Hypocrite
by Two Hearts
Summary: A lord filled with his own since of self-worth held himself above all others. So self-righteous was he, Sesshomaru was blind to the light that shown brightly within Kagome. Until the day she opened his eyes to the hypocrisy of his nature, a blemish upon his honor he could not face. Together they travel a difficult path to become worthy.
1. Misunderstood

A merry tune hummed from lips curved in a small smile, while busy hands plucked essential herbs from a well-kept garden to be ground into paste or powder later to stalk up on a quickly dwindling supply of medicine. Kaede's hands had become far too gnarled to attend her garden, so Kagome offered a welcoming hand, or two, whenever she and her other friends were in town. She was not the only one of her companions to assist the elderly woman with her chores.

Inuyasha had, thankfully, been convinced that they all could do with a short respite from shard hunting, and they all had started back towards Kaede's village in unspoken agreement.

Upon arrival, they had all started helping around the village, doing normal every day work to get their minds off their fruitless hunt and instead do something more productive with their time. A village woman had come to them asking if one of the men could help her patch up her roof as it had been leaking when it rained. In return, she would wash their dirty garments for them with the help of her two growing daughters. Luckily, the girls were still too young for Miroku's lecherous ways, but he kindly agreed to help if the woman herself would kindly bear him a child, to which Sango knocked him over the head and he agreed to be more than happy to help.

Sango had not gone with the monk. Instead, she went off to help a widowed man by cooking for his small children, with Shippo's help, while Inuyasha agreed to help a couple farmers in the fields; though, Kagome knew Inuyasha had no idea how to do this, her hanyou friend was willing to learn. He was a softy at heart, no matter how he blustered and yelled, Kagome thought with another small smile.

That left her helping Kaede. Kagome was glad that Inuyasha was out in the fields as it hid her from his sight because she knew if he saw her garbed as a miko as she was now, he would become silent and pensive, unable to look at her. Kagome couldn't help what she wore as her own clothes were being washed and dried by the woman Miroku was helping. Still, she sighed sadly, Kikyo was forever on Inuyasha's mind, no matter how much she wished otherwise.

Picking another herb, Kagome turned her thoughts toward the task at hand and felt a sense of accomplishment as she gazed at the basket full of plants. She had learned so much from Kaede, making her feel more useful and independent in this strange era. She was more accomplished in her healing skills and becoming more adapted with controlling her reiki. Her good mood once more restored, she stood to take back her findings for the older priestess' inspection when a fiery snarl reached her ears and loud noises signifying a battle, followed by a cry of pain almost too faint for her human ears.

Dropping her basket, unheeding the danger she could be running into, Kagome tightened her fingers around the hard wood of her bow and, grabbing an arrow from her quiver as she went into the forest that surrounded the village, tried to locate the sound of battle. Minutes went by before she stumbled to a stop as her eyes took in the scene before her bewildered gaze. She watched as a man, a demon by his aura, was beheaded by none other than the Western Lord.

He was beautiful, dressed in his customary flowing, white and red flower patterned haori. Upon his muscular chest, he wore his spiked armor, with a fluffy mokomoko resting upon his right shoulder. She looked upon the cold, unmoving face that seemed sculptured out of marble with perfect features and alabaster coloring, high cheek bones, striking demonic markings, and piercing amber eyes that flickered to her for just a moment before dismissing her completely.

She watched him sheathe his sword and turn away from her, but he stumbled in his movements, barely, but noticeable to her watchful gaze. That was when she noticed the blood soaking his left thigh when he sat, reclining against the trunk of a tree not far from his fallen foe and closed his eyes, ignoring her presence and the dead as if neither was there.

Though not liking his disregard towards her person, Kagome was hardly offended as she was used to his offhand treatment towards everyone, it seemed, except for the human child who traveled with him, but Kagome did not see Rin now. Her eyes once more took in his blood soaked hakama before she returned her arrow to her quiver and took a few steps in his direction in an effort to gain his attention.

"You are injured, Sesshomaru-sama," she said to him softly, adding his title to hopefully make him more receptive towards her.

It seemed to have worked, she supposed, as he deigned to answer her even if he continued to refuse to look at her. "Nothing more than a scratch, miko."

Feeling more courageous after his willingness to converse with her, she asked, "What brings you here? Who was that?" Kagome looked over to the corpse of the demon he had previously slain. "Did he deserve to die?" she asked him on a whisper.

She was surprised to see his amber eyes open and nail her with an emotionless yet fierce look, unnerving her. "Do not question my actions, girl."

Kagome noticed how he switched from using her honorable title to demeaning her value, causing her to go tight lipped. No longer afraid, as annoyance coursed through her, she moved closer to him and knelt on the lush, green grass a respectable distance away, trying to remain polite even though he seemed disinclined to do so.

"Your presence is unwanted," he told her, removing his intense stare from her to the surrounding forest, ignoring her once more.

Undaunted, Kagome did not leave as he wished. "May I take a look at your wound?"

"That is unnecessary."

"Still, you're hurt. I would help if you'd let me," she replied doggedly. She didn't know why she insisted upon helping him, as he continued his rude behavior, but walking away from a bleeding man, though he was much more than that, went against her conscious. Even he deserved someone looking after him. Or so she thought, until he once again opened his mouth.

"This Sesshomaru is not so weak to need a human's help."

"You sure do bleed like a human," she told him, miffed at his attitude.

He turned to glare at her, death in his frigid gaze if she did not tread more carefully.

Looking at him steadily, she asked softly, "Why do you hate humans so much? I am only trying to help you, Sesshomaru-sama."

He sneered at her words. "You are a hypocrite, human."

Kagome flinched under the contempt veiled under his harsh words, feeling hurt by the callous and unjust name calling. Exploding in fury, she demanded, "What have I done to warrant such accusations?!"

"I have heard of you, girl," he intoned to her, surprising her. "You are spoken of with kindness and reverie." Kagome was flattered that her kind actions towards others were not forgotten as she had previously assumed, and she smiled, remembering. Then her mood darkened with his next words. "All humans are self-serving creatures, and you are no different, _miko_ ," he mocked her title, making her grit her teeth in renewed anger and hurt feelings. "Your words of aid and kind gestures are nothing more than a way to gain attention."

Kagome was so surprised and shocked by his evaluation of her that the best she could do was choke out her next question. "Is that really what you think of me?" She couldn't understand how he could so misjudge her actions. She had never tried to get into another's good graces by offering help and kindness, yet it seemed, somehow, Sesshomaru thought as much. It hurt. His judgment of her caused tears to prick her eyes and her throat to go dry, but why his opinion should mean so much, to cause such distress in her, she had no idea, but she refused to cry in front of the bastard!

"You're wrong," she tried to tell him, defending herself. She tried to tell herself to shut up and leave him to his hurtful words and bleeding leg; however, she could not. "I would never do that! I just don't like seeing someone hurting or sad. I would help if I am able!"

"Touching," he mocked her further, softly, before he stood gracefully, seeming unhampered by his wounds. "I tire of your prattle." He walked away from her, while she choked on her rising anger at the injustice of his accusations and the tears that clogged her throat.


	2. Challenge

The following days after her conversation with Sesshomaru, Kagome had become noticeably quiet and pensive. Her companions had each separately, in their own way, attempted to discover what was troubling her, but she would always smile brightly, obviously fake, and reassure them all that she was fine, so they watched her, worrying for the girl in silence.

Kagome at first felt soothed by her friends' concern, but her mood quickly turned annoyed at their persistence. Couldn't they understand that she didn't want to discuss her painful spat with Sesshomaru? That he thought so little of her, and that she actually cared? She knew what they'd say. They would be angry for her sake, try to comfort her, and claim Sesshomaru was ignorant and an ass. She did not want to hear it, so she kept silent and tried to act normally around them, in an effort to stop their inquiries.

Two weeks had passed since her run in with Sesshomaru, and Kagome was smiling more easily, if a small shadow still lingered in her open, chocolate brown orbs. She found it easier to forget Sesshomaru's callous words after time had passed, and after not seeing him since. Out of sight, out of mind, or so the saying went, and she was inclined to believe it. Of course it helped that they were currently under attack, and Kagome was too preoccupied worrying for her hanyou friend to spare so much as a thought for the demon lord.

"Inuyasha!" she cried when he was struck down, his sword flying from his hand, leaving him unmoving upon the ground.

Right about now, she wished Sango and Miroku hadn't split up with them a few hours ago to help a village eradicate a demon terrorizing their home. Seeing that she was on her own to save the love of her life, she lifted her bow, ready to strike down their foe, praying Inuyasha was alright. Before she could fire, a feral growl rent the air. Kagome looked towards the sound and gasped as she witnessed Inuyasha rise, but it was not her friend who howled with blood lust and launched himself at the other demon. His eyes had turned crimson and jagged demonic markings slashed across his cheek bones. Her eyes then flew to the abandoned Tetsusaiga and back, dawning horror etched on her face.

"Inuyasha," she whispered in dismay.

She watched him dismember the demon in seconds, bathing in its blood and laughing at the death and destruction he caused. She took a hesitant step towards him, calling out to him softly, and he turned his blood red gaze on her, causing a shiver of dread to run down her spine.

"You remember me, don't you?" she asked him, compassion and vulnerability wobbling her voice.

He froze, undecided, until he turned away from her towards the right, snarling once more. She followed his gaze and sucked in her breath when she saw Sesshomaru standing there. She frowned as memory of their last meeting entered her mind.

"You dishonor our father's name, half-breed," Sesshomaru said in a deadpan voice.

Inuyasha growled at him, crouched, and tensed, ready to spring into action.

"Stop antagonizing him, Sesshomaru! I can handle this," Kagome yelled at him, angry, but afraid for Inuyasha.

"Silence, girl," Sesshomaru commanded without looking in her direction.

She was unable to retort as Inuyasha lunged at his older brother and a deadly fight initiated. Kagome notched an arrow, ready to fire at Sesshomaru should he do anything more than knock some sense into his brother. If anyone had to die, it would not be Inuyasha, she vowed.

At first, it seemed as if Inuyasha was winning, pushing Sesshomaru back, but his attacks were wild and untamed, and Sesshomaru quickly took the advantage by wounding Inuyasha, his poison claws gouging down the boy's unprotected chest, blood flying. The wound didn't seem to slow him down as Inuyasha continued attacking, but a powerful punch to his head sent him flying, only to land unconscious upon the ground. Kagome watched Sesshomaru walk towards Inuyasha, intending to kill him, no doubt.

Acting quickly, she fired her arrow near Inuyasha's prone form, erecting a barrier around him. Sesshomaru stopped to glare at her interference, which she returned in kind.

"Not another step, Sesshomaru," Kagome commanded him, unafraid, and notched another arrow, aiming at the demon lord challengingly. She knew she had no hope of defeating such a powerful demon, but she would not just stand by and let him kill her friend. She would die protecting him if necessary.

"Do not interfere, wench," Sesshomaru warned.

"Then stay away from him."

"Again with the dramatic gestures?" he taunted, reminding her of his low opinion of her and her actions.

His words angered her, and he probably knew it, she realized, but he would not intimidate her. "Looks like," she replied flippantly, knowing it would most likely annoy him.

She watched him narrow his amber eyes at her before swiping his hand at her lightning fast, his poison whip shattering her bow to splinters in her hands. Her eyes widened in shock at how easily he left her defenseless.

"How can you protect anyone without a weapon, miko," he again mocked her title, telling her without words what he thought of her usefulness, before turning back towards Inuyasha. He lifted a clenched fist, intending to break her barrier. She didn't give him the chance.

Cupping her hands in prayer, Kagome then spread her arms into the position of holding a bow and arrow, her reiki taking shape as she fired a projection at the demon lord. She could see she had surprised him by the widening of his eyes. His armor shattered as her missile entered his left shoulder, inches from his heart, before it dissolved into nothing, yet wounding him nevertheless. He glared at her now with a silent snarl forming on his lips.

She didn't see him move but felt his hand go around her neck and her back slam painfully into the bark of a tree. She opened her pain filled eyes to stare at him defiantly. He growled at her expression, tightening his hand around her throat, making it difficult for her to breathe.

"How noble of you. I could kill you in his stead," he offered icily, trying to scare her.

She, however, met his gaze, unafraid. "Who's… the hypocrite…now?" she wheezed out.

A strange glint entered his gaze, and he loosened his hand around her neck to allow her more ease of breath, only because he needed her to answer his low demand. "You will explain yourself."

She refused to grab ahold of his wrist to try and pry his fingers loose, knowing it would be a useless gesture, so she just hung suspended by his clawed hand, not giving him the satisfaction of struggling.

"You claim to be beyond reproach and that you're nothing like a human, yet you would kill your brother because he is different."

He was silent as he watched her with hard eyes.

"I offered you help, a worthless human whom you think only desires recognition, but how many humans want a reputation for aiding demons, knowing the majority are prejudiced? Consequently, I'd be opening myself up to being estranged by my fellow man. Yet here you stand, offering death to those who are different from you, just as many humans would. Tell me again how you are any different from those you despise, Sesshomaru," she challenged.

He stared at her silently and Kagome wondered if he was at a loss for words, and she relished the thought. Let him think and realize he was actually no different from the humans he hated so much. Suddenly, her feet hit the ground, her knees absorbing the impact as Sesshomaru's hand released its death-like grip around her neck. Kagome rubbed her abused flesh, glaring at him for his maul treatment, knowing she had come close to dying by his claws.

He turned his back on her and started walking away. Thankfully, he did not head towards her fallen friend. Before he was gone from her sight, she heard him say, "This Sesshomaru is nothing like humans."

Kagome wondered what had caused this hatred between him and humanity. Surely, it was something traumatic to have caused such a response in him, and she felt unwilling compassion for him, wondering what had happened.


	3. Echo

Two days later found Sesshomaru standing, gazing up at the lightly clouded morning sky, pondering, ignoring the way the small wind made his silver hair ripple like waves behind him, or how his pristine clothes were moving to the same rhythm. He dismissed the voices of his companions behind him, much more fixated on his thoughts at present. A black haired woman-child, a human with flashing brown eyes gazing at him defiantly even when her life had been literally in his hand was paramount in his mind and the words she dare speak to him.

' _Who's the hypocrite, now?'_

He gritted his teeth as the wind seemed to taunt him with her words, and not for the first time.

' _You claim to be beyond reproach…'_

He was! He knew he was, and no human chit was going to make him think otherwise.

' _Yet you would kill your brother because he is different.'_ Her words ceaselessly badgered him.

Of course, he would want to avenge his father's killer. It was Inuyasha and his human hime mother's fault for his great and terrible father's demise, he tried to ruthlessly remind himself, but again he heard the miko's words echoing within his mind.

' _I offered you help… Here you stand… offering death…'_

How dare she question him? Who was she to think she knew him? She was a lowly human, not fit to grace his presence let a—his thoughts were interrupted when Rin's happy voice filtered to his keen ears at that exact moment.

"Come on, Master Jaken, they're only flowers!"

Sesshomaru ignored Jaken's reply, already lost in thought once more. The miko was indeed human, but so was Rin, but Rin could never be categorized as a lowly human. She was different.

' _Who's the hypocrite, now?'_

He silently snarled. _Stop it!_

He wanted her voice to cease its prattle and leave him in peace, but he could still hear her challenging voice!

' _Tell me again how you are any different from those you despise, Sesshomaru.'_

If that's what she wanted then he would tell her, in great detail in fact. She would not question him again if he had any say about it. Why he cared for her opinion he didn't know, but he was livid about constantly hearing her words echo through his mind. He would silence them one way or another, he vowed.

"M'lord! Where are you go—ach!" Jaken tried to ask in a shrill voice, only to be silenced by a well-thrown rock from over Sesshomaru's shoulder, nailing him in the face. When he fell upon his back from the blow, Rin ran over to gaze at him with wide eyes, only to turn to Sesshomaru, watching him walk away. "Come back soon, Sesshomaru-sama!"

He ran for the village Inuyasha's pack seemed to frequent, knowing it was there Inuyasha would choose to recover. He ran like the wind, but not even the wind was fast enough to escape the miko's voice.

' _Who's the hypocrite—'_

"Silence!" he demanded out loud, needing to hear his own voice and hopefully banish hers. It didn't work.

After a couple of hours, he came to the village, sniffed out the miko, and charged inside a small hut. Ignoring the many gasps of surprise from within, he wrapped an arm around the miko and took to the skies, knowing she would be less inclined to escape him from many feet off the ground. Her friends and the wounded half-breed had no hope of stopping him. The humans tried to follow him on the fire cat, but it was easy for him to outdistance himself from them and inevitably lose them. His time with the troublesome onna would not be interrupted.

"What do you think you're doing, Sesshomaru?! Put me down, right now!" the girl demanded of him nonstop, so he finally let her go.

He watched her fall, waiting for her screams, but they never came, which inexplicably irritated him. Lightning fast, he caught her around the waist. Not for the first time, he told her, "Cease your prattle, miko," only to add, "or this Sesshomaru will not catch you next time."

He felt slightly better when he felt her body tremble in answer. _Good,_ he thought.

When he came upon a clearing many miles from the village and any inhabitants, he landed softly on the ground and dropped her on her hands and knees none too gently. "What was that for?!" he heard her demand, watching as she got up and dusted off her indecently high and strange green kimono.

"This Sesshomaru is nothing like humans," he told her without preamble, ignoring her words; his eyes trained on her every move.

He watched her body go still before she looked over at him; though, she stood sideways, her head turned so her eyes could meet his calmly. "Your actions towards Inuyasha prove otherwise."

Even now she questioned him, and her logic surprised and angered him. She was wrong, however.

"You know nothing, girl. The half-breed, my little brother who was the downfall of my father, should expect nothing from me," Sesshomaru told her in a calm voice; though, inwardly his blood boiled at the memory of his father leaving and consequently dying to protect a human hime and his bastard son.

"Nor mercy it seems," she answered.

He watched her eyes for reproach as her words suggested, but all he saw was sorrow, and he didn't understand. He stood quietly before her as she continued to speak in a voice grown hushed. "Can you honestly blame a baby for the actions of the father? I understand that your father chose to protect them."

"A human and a half-breed were not worth his life," answered Sesshomaru tartly, silently daring her to refute his words. How could she possibly understand how he felt?

"They were to him," the girl told him, turning to face him squarely, now.

Sesshomaru was silent, unable as of yet to refute her words. This was not how this conversation was to go. She was supposed to retract her previous words and leave him in peace, yet still she would throw such logic in his face when he had tried to deny their existence.

' _Who's the hypocrite, now?'_

"My father died when I was around Rin's age."

The miko's reference to Rin and her abrupt words brought his attention back to her. She was watching him again with sadness, and it was difficult for him to meet her gaze, but why?

"I was at a friend's house when ours caught fire. Mama was very pregnant with my little brother, Souta. My father pushed her out of the way to safety as a burning beam fell and crushed him. She gave birth that night, you know. I had lost a father that day, but where one life was lost another was given." He watched her smile, but her expression was bittersweet.

He could clearly see her human weakness and he scoffed at her tale. "Your human father was of no consequence compared to mine."

She did not look at him with anger, but still that same sorrow. "To me, to a little girl of eight, he was."

"And let me guess? You flowered your brother with love and affection," he scoffed. How could she? It was because of the baby that her mother was too slow to escape. She laughed, though not at him. The sound surprised him. She had a faraway expression on her face.

"Souta could annoy me at times, but he has been a great joy to me."

It was then that he saw her strength.

Sesshomaru reflected that instead of being angry at her father's death, she had been accepting and truly cared for her brother; whereas, he could not accept his father's untimely death and wished to kill his own brother. He saw before him a glaring light embodied as the miko, and he felt himself shed from her inwardly, afraid to see his soul in its true dark colors. Looking into her eyes, he felt ashamed. These feelings were too new and raw for him to coolly disregard her words and existence. He had to escape her, run back into the darkness where the light would not touch him and hide his true self.

He turned from her, unable to face the light. He had been wrong. It was not she who had been the hypocrite.


	4. Heartache

After his confrontation with the miko, Sesshomaru did not return to his companions. He was bombarded by raging emotions he was unable to contain or control, and he knew at this instance he was a danger to others. He had felt a need to run away from the pure light emanating from the miko, a light he had never been aware of previously with his blind and deaf senses. He was everything he had accused her of being and more; however, he was even more contemptible because he had been purposely blind to reality and his own feelings of superiority over everyone around him. Oh, how his arrogance had ruled him, spite and wounded pride hidden beneath righteous anger.

He had to run. Run or acknowledge the beast that he was because now he was unable to hide under false pretenses and that he could not bear, yet. So he ran.

He was then fueled by such fury towards himself that he longed to kill, to massacre. He was disinclined to refuse his baser, darker instincts, so he found opponent after opponent, enemy after enemy, and bathed in their blood. He was lost to a madness of his own making, until he happened to gaze down into a puddle of cooling blood not his own and saw his face.

He snarled.

 _Worthless._

He was less than that. Here and now, he saw himself as he truly was. He was no different from those he despised as his previous self-image had been a lie.

Roaring his anger and confusion, he transformed into his true demonic form, a great white inuyoukai, and ran from the carnage. If only he could outrun himself.

Kagome sat patiently on the lip of the Bone Eater's Well, waiting for Inuyasha to pick her up and take her to where their companions had made camp in Edo. She didn't mind that he was late as her mind was preoccupied now as it had been for the last week, with thoughts of his older brother. She felt sorry for Sesshomaru and his inability to forgive the circumstances that circled his father's death. He obviously cared for his sire, and somehow she knew she had hurt Sesshomaru's feelings. She didn't know how she knew, but she was certain she had. If only she could go to him and apologize…but for what?

She sighed before she stood on her feet, deciding to walk to the Goshinboku as it was a structure of peace and tranquility for her. Inuyasha could easily follow her scent if he were to find her absent from their rendezvous.

She was almost there when she heard voices, Inuyasha and Kikyo's.

"Inuyasha, you mustn't continue your plans of revenge on Naraku," she heard Kikyo say in a clear voice.

Kagome moved as stealthily as she could to hide behind a tree, cursing herself for eavesdropping, yet she was helpless to turn away from the drama unfolding before her, watching like one would a train wreck.

Kikyo was standing a few feet away from Inuyasha, their gazes locked with similar emotions of bittersweet love and longing. It made Kagome's heart ache witnessing the all too familiar expression on Inuyasha's face when concerning Kikyo.

"You must cease putting your life at such risk. I could not bear it if you were to die," Kikyo continued. Her voice was filled with heartache, lending truth to her claim.

"You can't expect me not to avenge your death!" Inuyasha proclaimed, obviously agitated by her words.

"You and I's inability to trust one another is as much at fault as Naraku's treachery, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha stood silently, gazing at her with a tortured expression before she came close enough to cup his cheek. "I no longer wish for your death. I want you to live," Kikyo told him with immense feeling.

"How do you expect me to live when you are gone?" he all but cried, holding her hand to his face, his eyes closed in pain as he nuzzled her palm.

"Inuyasha—" Kikyo embraced him and he held her close.

The scene tore at her fragile heart, making Kagome step back, wanting nothing more than to run. She turned to do just that as the first tear fell from her eyes, but she stopped with a silent gasp when she saw Sesshomaru standing tall before her, his white kimono covered in blood, as was his face and hands and even his silver mane.

Sesshomaru wasn't sure why he was there except that he had felt an irresistible pull to see her that, in the end, proved too strong for him to ignore. He had come to her with no clear intentions except to watch her from afar, until he came upon her when she first entered the woods, where she ended up here, in hiding, hearing and watching his brother embrace another woman. He could clearly see her anguish when she had turned away. Even now he saw her pain, though it was also suffused with surprise at his unexpected appearance.

Silently, he offered his right arm to her and for reasons they both were unsure of, she stepped forward and curled trustingly into his side, while he wrapped his arm around her waist to grip her hip, before he took them to the skies.

Even after having her heart shattered, he could tell that she held no harsh feelings towards the embracing couple they left miles behind, and he was again reminded of the differences between their souls. He inwardly cringed when he glanced down and saw his bloodied claws stain her strange, white kimono and quickly released her, but she continued to huddle close to his side, holding onto his armor as they flew through the morning sky, until he landed by a gently flowing stream.

When they touched ground, he instantly moved away from her, feeling unworthy in her presence. She broke the long silence to ask him as she had once before, "May I help you, Sesshomaru-sama?"

He found himself nodding his head even though he wanted to run away from her again.

Kagome didn't understand why he had been there nor why he had taken her with him, but he was covered in blood and probably hurt, and she needed to do something to get her mind off of the image of Inuyasha and Kikyo together.

She let him remove his armor and mokomoko but stepped in to help him remove his haori, the fabric all but ruined. She noticed his chest was covered in blood, both dried and still wet, even though she couldn't yet see where he was wounded. She had him sit close to the stream as she made the slow progress of washing him off with her white handkerchief that needed to be repeatedly rinsed off in the water before she could continue.

Though washing the blood from his face first as a courtesy, cleansing his back and chest took considerable time with her meager resources. She wasn't even sure how she was going to cleanse and bandage his injuries afterwards, but her mind had so wondered during their prolonged silence that she hadn't even noticed he was perfectly fine until she had finished.

She looked up to voice a few questions when her eyes were caught by his golden gaze. Electricity charged between them at that moment, causing a new awareness to hang around them. All of a sudden, her body went soft and warm and she was confused by the change in her thoughts when all she could think about was kissing him and laying her hands upon his chest.

A heated look entered his golden orbs, making them flash with an internal fire, which caused her lower stomach to flutter strangely. But then he blinked and lowered his eyes and head to gaze at the ground between them. All of a sudden, her warm feelings left to be replaced by sadness at his actions. His posture spoke of utter dejection and defeat that made her eyes water at witnessing such a proud creature struck so low. She knew not why his mood had changed so drastically, but she couldn't just leave him like this.

She was silent when she rose on her knees before him and placed her hand on his naked chest, over his heart, to feel the strong and steady beat. Her touch prompted him to raise his head so he could meet her gaze, but the heated look was gone and his eyes were dull and dim.

"A heart can be a heavy thing," she told him softly, never taking her eyes from his.

Then she wrapped her arms around his neck, the only contact between them, and she held him. After several long seconds, she felt his forehead move to rest upon her shoulder in acceptance of her comfort.


	5. Numb

After hugging him for several long minutes, Kagome leaned back to gaze at him, and she knew she would be unable to leave him until the bleak look left his golden gaze. It was so unlike his normal, arrogant, straightforward gaze. She wasn't sure how to help him, or what was even causing this drastic decline in his mood. Though it seemed apparent his heart was heavy. What other reason could put such a look in his eyes?

Unsure of what to say, Kagome's eyes landed on the blood that matted his silver locks near his angelic face.

"Sesshomaru-sama, perhaps you would like to bathe in the river?" She decided to use his honorific, hoping it would snap him out of his mood. She wished fervently that she had her soap and shampoo to offer him.

She waited for a response, but he merely gazed at her with an unblinking stare, until his eyes lowered to his bloodied claws, unmoving. His unresponsive behavior made her worry for him spike. Somehow she knew instinctively that it was her fault he was acting so strangely, which made her want to apologize, but for what? She wished she knew what was going on in his head, to understand him.

She called out to him quietly. "Sesshomaru?"

His gaze lifted, met hers, causing tears to clog her throat at the sight.

Her voice came out tight as she forced words from her constricted lungs. "You should wash the blood off, Sesshomaru-sama."

His nod reassured her immensely, until he continued sitting there, staring at the blood on his hands. Her mood plummeted. "Uh, Sesshomaru-sama? Allow me to assist you."

Kagome tentatively reached for a booted foot and eased it off. When he failed to react, she took the other one off as well. He was so passive. What was going on?! Her heart sped up as her anxiety rose higher still. Slowly so as not to startle him, she clasped his hand and rose, tugging gently for him to follow suit. He stood without complaint.

She felt the stirrings of awareness being so close to him half-dressed, but he was acting so docile as if he were in shock or just didn't care anymore. Had she done this?

 _He shouldn't be like this!_ her mind wailed, while her eyes filled with worry.

She felt tears gather in her eyes as she met his bleak gaze. Surprisingly, his hand rose as if to touch her cheek, but it hovered, then went limp. She caught his hand before it could fall to his side.

"It's all right, Sesshomaru." She made a valiant attempt not to cry in front of him, and instead tried to smile at him reassuringly, but it came out strained.

The blood on his claws was mostly dry but it still came off on hers. His eyes landed on their clasped hands and they seemed to flinch. Before she could say or do anything, he removed his hand gently from between hers, then turned towards the stream. His profile presented to her, he lifted his hand to his obi, allowing his hakama to fall.

She quickly averted her gaze, allowing him his privacy as he stepped into the water.

Knowing he would need something clean to wear, she told him without turning around, "I'll wash your hakama for you, Sesshomaru-sama. You'll need new ones obviously, but until then they'll have to do."

Surprisingly, he spoke. "Do not go far, miko."

She paused in picking up his pants, realizing he had not made fun of her title as he had previously. She blew out a worried breath. "Hai."

She moved down the stream a few feet and began to do the best she could to clean his blood stained garment. Almost as soon as she had them soaked, she realized he would have nothing to wear while they dried. She blushed at the implications. However, her thoughts soon rushed back to Inuyasha and Kikyo, to the scene she had been witness to, but she shook her head. Now was not the time to wallow in self-pity, not while Sesshomaru was acting so out of character.

A glance in his direction told her he wasn't moving to clean the blood off as she had thought he would be doing. Instead, he sat unmoving with his head bent in a defeated pose. Her need to cry came back to her at the sight.

After beating and ringing his hakama out, before placing them on the bank to dry, she stamped down her embarrassment at his nudity and went to him. "Sesshomaru-sama? May I help you wash up?"

Why was he just sitting there? Why didn't he move?

When he remained silent, she removed her socks and shoes before wadding into the river, the water coming just below her skirt as she stood before him. She refused to look down into the clear water at his nude form. She would not ogle someone who was obviously depressed and out of sorts.

"I'm just gonna help you…"

He seemed to ignore her while she washed his back, chest and arms with her hands, but when she got to his clawed hands and rubbed the dried blood off, his hand tightened around one of hers. Her eyes lifted to meet his inhuman, golden gaze.

Unable to keep silent any longer, she asked beseechingly, tightening her hand around his. "Please, tell me what troubles you, Sesshomaru? I am so worried about you."

She knew he probably didn't care for her anxiety towards him, but she had to know, had to do something to put a spark back into his dull eyes.

"This Sesshomaru… I…am a hypocrite," was his low response. Then he released her and lowered his eyes to the water.

Understanding came surging into her mind. He was a creature who had always viewed his actions to be one of moral standing, prided himself in being above all others. Now because of her, his feelings of self-worth had shattered. This _was_ her fault.

This wasn't what she wanted when she had first pointed out his faults! She had called him a hypocrite, but what about her? She had condemned him and wrote him off as being wrong, but what gave her the right to stand on moral ground when she had purposefully tried to hurt him? His ill-temper towards her did not give her the right! Looking at Sesshomaru's bent head, tears in her brown orbs slightly obscuring her vision, she knew she should have handled the situation better than she had.

She had carelessly taken his identity from him. She had done this to him!

A sob escaped her lips, unable to muffle the sound, and his head came up instantly, eyes locked on her face. It seemed as if a small spark lit in the center of his emotionless gaze.

She blindly reached for one of his clawed hands and brought it up to her cheek. "I'm so sorry, Sesshomaru."

What could she say to make things right? Were there any words to be had? She had to try! "Being blind to one's faults is not the same as having eyes wide open yet ignoring them. True strength of character comes from understanding and making the most of it."

Tears slid down her cheek and into the palm of his hand. He was silent as he removed his hand from hers, but instead of moving away from her as she feared, he stroked the trails left behind from her leaking eyes.

"Show me." His words were spoken quietly, but held such meaning.

Sniffling, she resolved to help him through his depression, for lack of better word, and vowed to become a better person herself in the process. But first she had to clean the blood from his long mane.

Afterwards, they left the river. Kagome averted her gaze from his nakedness and felt one of his larger hands reach out to hold onto one of hers. She felt warmth enter her chest at his voluntary contact. They sat silently side by side as they waited for his clothes to dry, and she noticed that he never once let go of her hand. Her worry for him outweighed any thoughts about his nudity so close to her. It seemed his closeness also banished the painful memories she had from this morning after witnessing the tender scene between Inuyasha and Kikyo.

It was hours later before either of them moved, but when he did it was when her stomach growled. She blushed from both her body's demands for sustenance and because he stood, naked. She looked away quickly, not wanting to be caught ogling his backside as she heard him dress into his probably still damp hakama.

"Build a fire, miko, while this Sesshomaru hunts."

Before she could reply, he was gone. First, she quickly took care of personal business behind a bush, then collected sticks for kindling. She pulled out her trusty lighter she always kept in her skirt pocket for just such occasions.

Minutes after the fire was roaring to life, Sesshomaru returned with a skinned and sliced rabbit before offering the bloody strips to her. She obligingly put the strips on sticks and left them over the fire to roast.

Ever since the miko's hug, Sesshomaru's mind had entered into a type of fog, seeking to hide from the truth about himself. However, he was always aware of the miko's bright light; although, he stopped feeling the need to run from her. When she spoke of bathing, he wasn't able to comprehend at first. If he were to be attacked, he knew instinctively that he would die in his present state, but the thought was quickly hidden in the fog in his mind. He didn't understand his current mood nor did he care, except the revulsion he felt towards himself was absent in his current state.

His mind first tried to rise above the fog when he realized the miko was moving away, so he told her not to go far. For some strange reason, he did not want her out of his sight.

It wasn't until the miko's constant touch from washing him that his mind truly started to rise from the limbo it seemed to have been lost in. Then came the realization that her touch no longer repelled him. Instead, he felt drawn to her light as if starved for it, for sanity's sake. Her words brought him back from the brink of despair as he realized he needed to learn to accept himself and to rise above the dishonor that stained his soul. If he had been thinking clearly, he would have shunned her help, believing he didn't need it.

Night was approaching when he took note that she was becoming drowsy and chilled beside him. He hadn't even realized the passage of time while he sat beside the miko. He felt an irresistible pull to be closer to her light as the world slowly turned to darkness around them. For the first time in his life, he did something he had never done with another living being.

He placed his now clean, clawed hand upon her shoulder and gently forced her to the ground, ignoring her squeak of surprise. Turning her onto her side so her back was flush against his chest, he lay with her facing the warmth of the fire, offering her his body heat while she gave him comfort from her closeness.

He felt her tense at first, making him wonder if he shouldn't have touched her and was about to pull away when she relaxed and snuggled back against him. His muscles relaxed along with hers. Seeing she might get a crick in her neck later, he placed his arm under her head to pillow it from the hard ground. He watched her all through the night, not needing to rest as she.

During the long night hours, his mind climbed further out of its numb state to once again leave him with his keen intelligence; however, he did not let her go. He vowed to become the moral being he had always thought himself to be, with her help if necessary.


	6. Awaken

Kagome woke up to the sun in her eyes, and she blinked at the intrusion to her dreams. She was having a wonderful dream; though, she was unable to remember what it had been about at the moment, but she was sure if she could just drift back to sleep, the dream would reappear. However, the ground beneath her was hard and unforgiving, so she wiggled a bit in an attempt to find a comfortable position when she became aware of the weight across her waist and the solid warmth at her back.

Her eyes popped open when she felt a hard, male body shift behind her. He was spooning her, silken clad thighs pressed intimately against hers, while her butt was cradled into lean hips, snuggled against his groin. His broad, muscular chest was pressed against her back, expanding and retracting on every breath he took, while a huge bicep cushioned beneath her head.

Memory came flooding back. The male behind her was Sesshomaru. For further proof, Kagome looked down at the arm that was wrapped around her waist. Two magenta stripes were boldly displayed at the wrist.

Was he sleeping? she wondered. Then a more embarrassing thought came to her. He was naked! Oh, no, wait. She remembered him putting his pants back on but not his shirt. Kagome blushed. This was the first time in her young life that a hot guy lay spooning behind her, and half naked to boot!

Turning her head hesitantly, her gaze clashed with amber, causing her to flush harder, realizing that he was indeed awake. Embarrassment threatened to consume her when memory of last night and his strange behavior came back to her. Turning quickly into his arms, she raised her hand, intending to cup his cheek as worry for him filled her mind, but she caught herself just before she made contact. She doubted he would allow her casual touch, but he surprised her by covering her small hand in his much larger one and laid her palm over his cheek.

She watched transfixed as he closed his eyes and sighed as if he was relieved by the contact. When he opened his eyes again, she noticed that they were clear and aware, unlike yesterday, while she helped bathe him. He had seemed so lost and forlorn then, and she knew it had been her fault. She had hurt him terribly. He was probably still hurting even if she couldn't see it reflected in his gaze anymore.

"Gomenasai, Sesshomaru."

"Why do you apologize, miko?"

"I said some horrible things to you. I was angry and blurted things out without thinking." She would never forget yesterday, or the look in his eyes. It was forever branded in her memory. She never wanted to cause another such pain again.

"You were justified. This Sesshomaru was all you accused and more."

He was wrong. She was the hypocrite for lashing out in her anger.

"But…"

She tried to tell him she was not blameless, but he shook his head, eyes holding her own. "Enough, miko. Do not concern yourself."

As if that were possible, mused Kagome gloomily, but she thought against arguing the point with him.

Then he was leaning close, letting go of her hand to lightly grip her hip, while her hand instantly went to his chest. He was so close. She could feel his breath against her temple when he spoke.

"Teach me, miko. Teach me to be a better man."

Sesshomaru gazed into her huge, chocolate eyes, feeling the urge to be closer to her. He didn't add that he wanted her to teach him to be worthy to be near one such as her. She was so innocent, so pure.

Kagome's heart skipped a beat. What did he mean? Color suffused her cheeks once more at the sexual implication behind his words, but she forced herself to ignore her perverted thoughts. Obviously, she spent too much time around Miroku.

All at once, Sesshomaru sat up, so she did too, wondering about what had just transpired between them. She was probably over-thinking the whole situation, but her traitorous mind wouldn't listen to logic. Then she just had to lower her eyes and remember he was unclothed from the waist up.

 _Stop ogling him!_

"Are you hungry, miko?" Sesshomaru remembered Rin usually wanted to eat something when she woke. Normally, the child would go off and find something for herself, but he was restless for some unknown reason and required to do something, anything.

The mention of food had her stomach growling and she blushed, nodding her head. She was surprised when he headed towards the river, then quickly averted her gaze when he started untying his obi. She wasn't sure what he was doing. Maybe taking a bath? She refused to peek and be caught at it.

Feeling the urge to do something with her hands, Kagome threw a few more sticks into her cold fire and used her lighter to get the flames going again. She heard splashing while she went about it, but refused to glance over. It was easier said than done. Kagome's mind went back to his perfect body, all muscle and hard strength and she shivered. It wasn't her fault he was drop dead gorgeous!

She was brought out of her musing when a shadow fell over her. Turning her head, Sesshomaru was crouched before her, offering her two fish.

Her breath caught in her throat, her mouth going dry. She would not look down, she would not look down! Of course she looked down. Her eyes feasted on his alabaster skin, skating down his neck to his collar bone. She had an insane urge to kiss this area, but her eyes continued on their downward path, over his broad chest and taut abs. Further down…

He was naked!

Looking away quickly, her heart pounding, she completely forgot about the offered fish in her embarrassment.

 _I was checking him out! I'm a female version of Miroku! Did he notice? Oh, my God, I saw his…it was so…huge!_

Not understanding, Sesshomaru set aside his catch and instead caught her chin, turning her face to look at him, but her eyes remained averted, refusing to meet his gaze. He went cold inside. Did she think he was unworthy now that she was awake? Would she turn her back on him and walk away?

"Why do you turn away from me?" He spoke without giving away his inner conflict, but when she looked at him, he read that he may not have been as successful as he'd first thought. She had a becoming flush on her cheeks. Had she caught a fever? Before he could inquire, she spoke.

"Y-you're naked!" Kagome stuttered. She would have liked to say more because she thought she had caught a glimpse of pain in his beautiful eyes, but words escaped her. He was naked for Pete's sake!

Sesshomaru was again confused. "You did not seem to mind yesterday."

Did he have to remind her?! "It's different this time," she muttered, not wanting to get into this conversation. Last night, his nudity hardly registered because he was like a lost child, but this morning he was all man.

Sesshomaru didn't completely understand her logic but since she wasn't rejecting his presence, he let it go, thinking humans were strange creatures. He was about to release her, but he noticed she had a strange look in her eyes and that she was looking at his mouth. Then he looked at hers and he felt the urge to lean down and press their lips together. Touching her before had made him feel unworthy, but now he seemed to crave her pure light. In fact, he wanted closer. Unconsciously, he leaned towards her, but he caught himself just before he kissed her.

What was he doing? She was a ningen miko.

What was he…? Had he completely lost his senses?

He was confused by these new feelings the miko brought out of him, so he stood, and turned from her as he went to his clothes and armor to dress.

Sesshomaru was not the only confused one. Kagome couldn't believe what happened, or almost happened. Sesshomaru had been about to kiss her, she was sure of it! And she had wanted him to!

The thought of kissing him put strange, confusing feelings inside her, so she tried to ignore them and cooked the fish he had brought her. As they were roasting on sticks, Kagome noticed there were only two, not nearly enough for the both of them. Without looking at him as she was still confused about her reactions towards him, she asked, "Ne, Sesshomaru? Are you going to eat?"

"This Sesshomaru does not need nourishment at this time, miko."

She was worried. He hadn't eaten last night either, but she didn't think she had the right to press the issue. They both went silent while she ate her fish after it was cooked properly, both deep in thought. After she had finished eating, Kagome instinctively searched around for her bag so she could brush her teeth, but then she remembered she had left her pack at the well, not even noticing its absence when she had walked towards the Goshinboku and found Inuyasha…

Kagome's eyes went down to her knees in a dejected manner as she replayed the sadly romantic scene yesterday. This wasn't the first time she had caught Inuyasha with Kikyo, but it continued to hurt nonetheless. She loved Inuyasha even though he was still in love with Kikyo, but her heart didn't seem to care, misguided thing that it was.

Thinking about Inuyasha brought thoughts of her other friends to mind and she knew they were probably worried about her. She should ask Sesshomaru to bring her back, but when she glanced over at him, she couldn't seem to form the words. How could she leave him when he so obviously needed her help? His words came back to her, _'Teach me, miko. Teach me to be a better man.'_

Someone needed her and it filled her heart with warmth knowing she was necessary. But her friends needed her too…but not like Sesshomaru did, she knew.

Sesshomaru's voice penetrated her thoughts.

"For the time being, miko, you shall be a part of this Sesshomaru's pack."

Kagome blinked uncomprehendingly at him for a few seconds before blurting out the first thing that came to mind. "I can't leave my friends, Sesshomaru. They need me to find the shards."

She instantly wished she could take back her words. Sesshomaru needed her just as much, if not more, and she had made it sound as if his need was unimportant. "I mean, I promised to help find the shards and defeat Naraku. I have every intention of helping you as well, but I can't leave them."

She even went so far as to walk over to him, kneel beside him, and take his hand in hers to make sure he understood her true desire to help him. Their eyes locked and she was spellbound by his gaze all over again.

 _What has gotten into me?_ Kagome thought and blushed for the hundredth time that day, it seemed. She tried to take her hand back, but he tightened his hold on her, not allowing her to break the contact between them. Surprised, she met his gaze mutely.

The atmosphere seemed to heat around them. Her heart fluttered, and her breathing hitched as she thought he might...but no, he released her. Kagome felt disappointed that he had not kissed her as she thought he would. She tried to deny her response to him, but who could blame her? He was as beautiful, if not more so, as any angel she had ever conjured in her mind from all the stories she had heard growing up.

Was that it? Was she only reacting to his beauty? Could she really be that shallow?

"This Sesshomaru will be traveling with you, then."

Kagome looked at him in surprise. "Inuyasha will be angry," she blurted without thinking again.

"You once accurately named me a hypocrite. I wish to rectify my behavior and prove to myself that I am above reproach." He didn't mention he wanted to prove himself to her most of all.

"You mean, you'll try to be a family with Inuyasha?" Kagome said with growing wonder.

But then his answer deflated her somewhat.

"No, there is too much bad blood between us; however, this Sesshomaru can offer a truce and an alliance with the half-breed."

Kagome nodded her understanding. At least it was something.

"It is time to go, miko. Come."

Kagome reached out to clasp the clawed hand he held out to her without hesitation.


	7. Changes

Standing next to him, her small hand clasped warmly in his as she was unwilling to let go just yet, Kagome couldn't help but notice the ruin his beautiful garments had become. She knew not where the blood stains had come from, but they had turned an ugly, rustic brown.

Before they went into the air, she asked him, "Sesshomaru, where did all the blood on your clothes come from?"

Silently, she prayed it was not his. Even though she had seen no wound present on his body—she had seen him naked for crying out loud!—that didn't mean some of the dark stains were not from him. She was well-aware that his healing abilities were far greater than her own and even Inuyasha's, so logically some of it could be his.

If he had been wounded, his opponent must have been strong, skilled. She hated the thought of him hurt. But if it wasn't his, how many had he had to fight to get that amount of gore on his person?

"Do not concern yourself, miko."

She instinctively raised her gaze to look at his profile, his customary, impersonal tone grating after the night before. She had just seen this man emotionally broken, lain beside his half nude body all night, yet he tried to shut her out now? Nope, not happening.

"Please, don't shut me out, Sesshomaru," she implored in a soft voice, tightening her hand around his, until he turned his head an inch to gaze down at her with one of his magnificent golden pools.

"If you're going to want my help, you need to try to be more open with me. I'm not a mind reader. How can I help you if you hide from me?"

That may not have been the wisest thing to say, she realized too late.

"This Sesshomaru does not hide."

Then Sesshomaru blinked, thinking. Had he not been hiding from the truth about himself all these years? He cast his gaze to the ground, an unknown feeling washing over him—dejection—but he did not let go of her hand. He clung to her without being aware of it.

Before she could speak, he said, "I will try, miko."

Surprised at his change of attitude, Kagome gazed at him with sympathy, seeing his inner struggle in that small admission. She squeezed his hand again and he returned the gesture.

"You know, you can call me by my name, Sesshomaru. It's Kagome. I'd... I'd really like you to."

After a short silence, he acknowledged her request without fuss. "Hold onto me, Kagome."

His words meant so much more than she could ever realize. He wanted her to hold on and never let go, but he kept silent.

Smiling, she let go of his hand, feeling bereft until she wrapped her arm around his waist and lay her other palm upon his abs over his armor. This chased away that fleeting feeling.

His right arm lifted, draping over her shoulders, making her feel protected, wanted, and slightly shy. If they had been walking along the heavily trafficked streets of Tokyo, upon seeing them, anyone would think they were a couple in this pose. She didn't care. It felt right to be so close to him.

They flew across the sky, the wind hitting her full in the face, an uncomfortable feeling, so she turned her head and hid against his side. As if realizing her discomfort, Sesshomaru tightened his arm, pulling her more fully into his side. Pressed fully against him as she was, her skirt had no chance to fly up and reveal her panties, to which she was grateful.

Soon the buffering wind calmed and she felt their elevation change, descend. Looking down, she saw the village come into view, then Kaede's hut. They were on the ground in minutes, her hair all askew.

Before she could move away, to speak, or do anything really, Inuyasha charged out of the hut, face set in anger and worry.

"Kagome! Sesshomaru, you bastard! Let go of her."

Sango and Miroku were right behind him, invading the doorway as Inuyasha was blocking the exit.

Upon seeing his familiar face, Kagome's heart plummeted, remembrance lancing her heart. An image of him holding Kikyo filtered across her mind's eye, his heart wrenching confession echoing in her ear.

She must have shown some sign of her distress, for Sesshomaru tightened his hold around her, offering comfort.

Sesshomaru instantly registered her sorrow, correctly interpreting it as his gaze clashed with heated amber so like their father's, so like his own. He, too, remembered Inuyasha with the undead miko, knew his actions and words had hurt the woman-child leaning against him.

A flash of emotion struck him. He was angered. Angered that Inuyasha had caused her pain, but more so that she cared greatly for this hanyou. In a moment of insight, he knew he wanted the miko to feel that strongly towards him and only him.

He banished the traitorous thought. There were too many reasons why that could never be.

"Did you hear me, Sesshomaru? I said let her go!" raged Inuyasha, clawed hand resting on the hilt of his sword, ready to fight.

"Sit boy," Kagome said in a low yet audible voice.

Instantly, Inuyasha went crashing to the ground, face first.

Turning to Sesshomaru, her arms still around him, she waited for him to meet her gaze. When he did, she said, "We'll wait here for you while you get Rin and Jaken." Then she offered him a smile and reluctantly lowered her arms.

Nodding his head, Sesshomaru released her, watched her step away from him then around his prone, groaning brother, and passed her ningen companions. She disappeared into the hut and out of his sight. Without a word or backward glance, he left.

Kneeling on the wooden floor beside Kaede, Kagome opened her arms as Shippo flew into them, voicing his worry about her absence. Sango and Miroku settled down opposite her, and before anyone could speak, Inuyasha charged in.

"What the hell, Kagome? I was worried about you and—"

"Sit boy."

Again he went down, kissing the wooden floor with a hard smack.

Everyone looked on, watching the drama, not daring to bring their friend's displeasure onto themselves. They had no idea why Kagome was acting so strange, but they were smarter than Inuyasha. They kept their mouths shut, waiting.

"Kagome! What the hell—" Inuyasha started to bluster, lifting his upper body off the floor and getting no further.

"Sit."

 _Smack!_

"Damn it!"

"Sit."

 _Crack!_

"Will you sto—"

"Si—"

"Wait! STOP!"

Kagome held off, staring Inuyasha down, silently daring him to speak.

Scared now, finally realizing that she was in a particular mood, Inuyasha shut up, and watched her warily, body tense for another bruising.

After a few long seconds, making sure he got her message, Kagome turned a bright smile on her friends.

Shippo cringed in her lap, muttering, "Scary," at her abrupt change of mood.

Her friends agreed without comment.

"I'm sorry I worried you all, but I was safe. Sesshomaru needed to talk to me, and it lasted longer than I expected." She laughed unconvincingly. "We came to an understanding of sorts. He'll be joining our group for the foreseeable future," her voice nonchalant as she dropped that bombshell.

"The hell you say!" sputtered Inuyasha, but he cowered away from her when she turned to glare at him, knowing he was seconds away from another 'sit'.

"I made a promise; I'm keeping it," she said without clarifying.

"But..." he began weakly.

"You don't get to talk to me, Inuyasha."

Sputtering, Inuyasha looked at her wide eyed, baffled.

"I saw you, Inuyasha," she whispered with feeling, before gazing down as she stroked Shippo's head to comfort herself.

Everyone was silent after her low confession, knowing without a doubt to what she referred. The only times she became this despondent was when she saw Inuyasha and Kikyo together.

Sango and Miroku leveled a glare at the hanyou, and again he cowered at their censure, their unvoiced accusations. He lowered his gaze to the floor, not knowing what to say, so saying nothing.

"Kagome—" Sango began, her voice filled with sympathy.

Shaking her head, plastering on a fake smile, hoping to reassure them but failing, Kagome said, "I'd like to take a bath. Sango, may I borrow Kirara? I left my bag by the well."

"That's not necessary, Kagome. We found your pack. It's over there in the corner. Would you like me to come with you?" Sango asked kindly.

"No, I think I'd like to be alone right now."

Her friends offered no contradictions as she set Shippo aside, grabbed her pack, and stood to leave.

"Kagome! Your side! There's blood..." Shippo's voice invaded the silence.

Everyone's eyes zeroed in on the bloody hand print on her white shirt by her right hip. Gazing down at it, she smiled, her mind bringing up Sesshomaru's image.

"It's not mine, don't worry. I'll be right back, you guys."

Then she was gone, heading towards the river not far from the village.


	8. Self

Sesshomaru wasted no time racing to his pack, using his energy ball to eat away the miles; though truthfully, they were not all that far situated from the village Inuyasha frequented.

"Sesshomaru-sama! You're back," his young ward cried happily, running towards him with a huge grin to greet him.

Nodding his head, his eyes softened almost imperceptibly. "Rin."

"My lord, I have greatly miss—" began Jaken, as happy as Rin to see his lord, but he was cut off mid-sentence.

"We are leaving," Sesshomaru informed them. "Jaken, take Ah-Un and follow to Inuyasha's village." Then his eyes once more settled on his ward. "Come, Rin."

"Yes." Trustingly, the ningen child stood close beside him, but not touching.

He initiated contact by placing a protective hand on her small shoulder, bringing her closer to his much taller frame. "Hold on."

"Sesshomaru-sama, wait!" Jaken screeched, not wanting to be left behind, but again he was ignored as he watched his lord morph into his orb of energy and disappear with Rin.

Returning to the old miko's hut in record time, he opened the flap to allow Rin to go in before him. He instantly noted that the younger miko was not present. Her scent led away from the small enclosure.

Before he could follow, his half-brother grouched, "Back already?"

Ignoring him, Sesshomaru spoke to his ward. "Rin, stay here." Then he was gone, racing to find the miko, needing to see her, yet not understanding his growing attachment towards the girl. For now, it didn't matter.

When Kagome had first made her trek through the small village, she had been waylaid by a woman. The older woman had again thanked her for helping her oldest son when he had badly injured himself, while out in the fields planting.

The woman was the first of several well-wishers she had helped in the recent past, putting her desire to be alone and bathe on hold. She held on to her impatience just barely, but finally she escaped to the river situated between rock ledges.

Her heart was heavy as she went about her cold bath. Again she let Inuyasha's feelings for Kikyo dampen her mood. She wished she could put those negative feelings to rest, but logic held little sway when emotions were involved.

Stepping out, she wasted no time in drying off and heading for her dirty, rumpled clothes. She had forgotten to grab a new change of garments in her time and now it seemed from Kaede, as well. Knowing the older miko only had one outfit to loan her, Kagome's heart took a deeper dive.

Lacy white panties on—she felt all girls should wear pretty underwear—she put her arms through the straps of her bra. Her breasts were barely covered, her arms moving behind her to clasp the ends of her matching white bra when movement caught her attention.

Reacting instantly, she dropped to her knees, abandoning the clasp on her bra to press her forearms against her breasts, and screamed, "Sit boy!"

Eyes scrunched shut, she waited for the telltale bang that signaled Inuyasha's face hitting the dirt.

And waited.

Lifting her lids one at a time, she saw black boots and white billowy pants before she looked up and up and up, almost toppling over on her rear at how far back she had to look from her crouched position.

She watched incredulous as Sesshomaru lifted a silver brow at her.

Forgetting her near nudity, she jumped to her feet and pointed an accusing finger at him. "What do you think you're doing?" she screeched.

Wordlessly, his golden orbs lowered, prompting her to follow his gaze.

Heat blazed across her cheeks as she saw that her unclasped bra barely covered her nipples, and showed way too much breast.

"Pervert!"

She crossed her arms over her chest and glared daggers at Sesshomaru, wishing she could 'sit' him for his audacity to stare at her mostly nude body.

Still he remained silent, watching her. It was almost unnerving. Almost.

Huffing, she demanded, "Would you turn around? I need to get dressed, and I don't need you staring at me."

Without a word, he turned his head, offering her his profile while not moving an inch more.

Eyebrow twitching in ire, she eyed him balefully—silently daring him to peek. Turning her back on him to give her some semblance of privacy, she reached behind her, fumbling with the clasp. Her nerves were shot, knowing that he was silently standing, there that the task proved impossible.

Warm hands brushed hers aside, and before she could think to form an objection, Sesshomaru had clasped her bra for her. The backs of his fingers brushed her spine and she shivered.

She could feel his body heat so close to hers, burning her back, butt, and legs. Her body throbbed strangely at his nearness.

"T-thank you," she murmured, her heart beating fast.

Again she felt his hand on her back, stroking along her spine in a gentle caress, and she gasped in reaction. She felt his touch all the way down to her toes.

"Sesshomaru?" she asked questioningly, her voice slightly unsteady.

After a moment, his touch left her, and she felt bereft.

"Dress, Kagome."

Normally, she would have chafed under such an order, but he said her name, which only served to immensely please her.

Hustling, she donned her dirty clothes before turning to face Sesshomaru. Again he had turned his face to the side, offering her moderate privacy, in his own way. When she faced him, he turned to her. When she noticed he was looking lower on her body, she followed his gaze.

Blushing, knowing she wore less than clean clothes, she started to defend herself, but when he reached out, she snapped her mouth shut and watched him mutely.

He fingered the blood on her hip, blood he had left behind.

She understood immediately.

"Don't worry about it, Sesshomaru," she was quick to reassure him. "I get my uniform dirty all the time. My mother has become a genius at getting out all known stains, trust me." Babbling, she continued. "I don't have a spare change of clothes at the moment. I forgot them back home, but Kaede has clothes to loan me."

She decided not to get into the subject of her jumping through time just now.

Sesshomaru was curious. So she didn't live in Inuyasha's village? Her origins were a complete mystery to him. Actually, he had no real knowledge concerning her. He found that he wanted to know everything there was to know about this young, ningen girl.

Finally, he nodded, then they were on their way back to Kaede's small hut.

They walked at a sedate pace through the village. Kagome couldn't help but notice the hushed voices and awed stares. She had to admit, Sesshomaru was an impressive sight.

Kagome noticed he walked close to her left side, closer than was necessary. Was he purposefully staying so near her?

As they neared their destination, Kagome realized she had something important to tell him. "Hey, Sesshomaru? Don't worry. I haven't told my friends the reason you'll be traveling with us for the foreseeable future. I didn't think you'd want them to know. Besides, I didn't think it was anyone else's business."

From the corner of her eye, she saw him nod his understanding. Boy, he sure was silent.

Shippo and Rin greeted them with exuberant cries of pleasure, racing towards them.

Shippo launched himself into her arms, and Kagome obligingly caught him, while Rin stood before Sesshomaru. Kagome concealed a warm smile when he placed his hand upon her head in greeting.

 _So the demon lord has a soft spot after all._

"Hey, Shippo, Rin," grinned Kagome, kneeling down to give the young girl a one armed hug, while still holding onto her kit.

"Hey, Kagome, what took you so long?" complained Inuyasha, his voice gruff as he eyed his older brother with unveiled animosity. "With you gone, I had to look after not one but two brats."

"Be nice, Inuyasha," scolded Kagome without any real heat, knowing he was just upset about the current situation. "Sango and Miroku are here. It's not like you were left alone with them."

Then glancing down at Shippo, Kagome told him, "I need to change, Shippo. I won't take long."

The fox kit obligingly jumped down as Kagome walked past everyone and entered the hut, before going into the back room with only a quick greeting to her other companions.

She was quick to dress in the traditional miko style, not trusting the two brothers to be alone for too long. Who knew what kind of damage those two could do in five minutes?

When she reemerged into the main sitting room, everyone had congregated around the banked fire, and they were all looking at her.

Kagome's eyes half lifted to watch Inuyasha, waiting for the explosion she knew was coming. At the moment, she had nothing else to wear; not like he ever seemed to care.

Instead, he turned away from her. Gruffly, he said, "Go back and change."

So that was how it was, was it? Tears stung her eyes, but she refused to cry. Just in case, she hid her eyes with her bangs as she gazed down at her feet.

"I don't have another change of clothes, Inuyasha. When mine are clean—"

Inuyasha interrupted her explanation by getting silently to his feet and walking out.

Her throat constricted as grief took a hold of her heart. How many times could one heart break? Many, many times it would seem, and many more to come, she had no doubt.

"I don't know why the mutt objects," piped up Jaken who had recently arrived. "The miko's changed apparel is much more befitting her station, and now that Sesshomaru-sama is present—"

"Silence, Jaken," Sesshomaru warned.

Not understanding the undercurrent mood around her, Rin offered Kagome a small, reassuring smile. "I like what you're wearing, Kagome."

Kagome had to leave, get away from everyone's sympathetic stare.

"I—I have to go. I forgot... I...excuse me."

Head down, she raced out of the hut. She cursed her likeness to Kikyo as she fled. Would she never step out of the other woman's shadow? She knew not where she was going until she stumbled to a halt in front of the Sacred Tree. It seemed she always ended up here.

Plopping down on an over grown root right at the base of the old tree, Kagome crossed her arms over her raised knees and hid her face from the world. She did not cry, but she was perilously close to her breaking point.

A large hand gently cupped the back of her bent head, and she swiftly looked up, meeting Sesshomaru's intense gaze. The tears slid down her cheeks at her sudden movement, but she made no effort to wipe them away. She was caught in calming golden pools, willingly trapped.

Without her saying a word, he understood why she cried. The old him would have scoffed at her apparent weakness and walked away, but now he could not. After the revelation of his true character had been exposed to him, he knew that he, too, could experience overpowering emotional upheaval and pain. Who was he to judge another without scorning himself in turn? He was through being a hypocrite.

He may not know how to go about proving his self-worth to either of them, but perhaps it could start with showing this miko hers.

Clearing her throat, Kagome asked, her voice husky from pent up emotion, "What are you doing here, Sesshomaru?"

She didn't want anyone to see her like this, but she hadn't the strength to send him away.

"Perhaps, we are meant to help one another, Kagome."

Then he wiped away her tears with the pad of his thumb, cupping her left cheek in his warm, calloused palm.

Stunned, she sat staring up at him, unable to move at his uncharacteristic tender touch and soft spoken words.

His next words sent her over the edge.

"When I look at you, it is you I see, Kagome. No other."

With a sob, she launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his waist, ignoring the hard press of his armor. Burying her face in his soft, fur pelt, she cried thankful tears along with the sad ones.

She felt him stroke her hair, and it was enough.


	9. Argument

Kagome wasn't sure how long they stood like that, with Sesshomaru holding her so tenderly, but she was sure more than a little time had passed, her need for comfort too great to be ignored or denied. When she finally calmed down, her tears dried up, her face no longer red from her crying fit, she pulled away from him.

Their arms were still wrapped loosely around each other, as if they were reluctant to release the other. Kagome gazed up into his eyes, and even though those inhuman eyes gave nothing away of his inner thoughts, she thought they looked back at her with kindness.

This new, almost tender Sesshomaru was still so strange to her. He was still the same daiyoukai and yet totally different, less cold towards her. Did he really wish for her to help him change? To be a better man, as he had put it? She wasn't completely sure how she was to go about helping him, but recalling his anguished expression and tortured plea for her aid, she knew she could not fail him.

One way or another, she would succeed.

When she realized long seconds had eclipsed while she stared up at him, lost in thought, she flushed scarlet and pulled away with a small, self-conscious laugh.

"You asked me for my help and here I am crying all over you. Sorry about that."

Sesshomaru merely continued to stare down at her, feeling the loss of her warmth acutely, but he did not try to reclaim her in his arms, arms that felt empty without her in them.

"It matters not," he replied before shifting his body slightly towards the village. "We should return to the others."

"Right," she mumbled, moving to walk beside him.

Thoughts of returning to her friends reminded her why she had run from them in the first place, and the recollection made her shoulders sag. Almost as if he sensed her mood, Sesshomaru offered her reassurance. "Do not worry needlessly over Inuyasha, Kagome."

She turned her head to gaze up at his profile, blinking owlishly, before returning her gaze forward again. A small smile lifted her lips. "You don't give yourself enough credit, Sesshomaru. You're kinder than you think."

It was Sesshomaru's turn to blink in astonishment after the miko's assessment, not sure why she said it. He didn't think he had done or said anything to warrant such praise from her, and wondered if becoming a better man in her eyes was going to be easier than he had originally thought.

With both of their hearts lighter than they were previously, they reached Kaede's hut shortly only to be told Sango, Miroku, and Shippo had departed.

"They what?!" cried Kagome, worriedly.

"I'm sorry, child, but I could not stop them. The wind sorceress, Kagura, was here not long ago, saying that Kohoku was in danger, and if they didn't act now, he would be killed," Kaede said with a shake of her head.

"Why didn't they wait for us or come get us before leaving?" asked a bewildered Kagome, fearing for her friends' safety.

"After hearing her brother was in danger, Sango was adamant she go to him immediately. Miroku and Shippo went with her to help and asked me to inform you upon your return. I'd make haste if you wish to catch up with them," advised the elder miko.

Kagome nodded and ran for her bow and quiver of arrows, calling over her shoulder to Sesshomaru. "Sesshomaru? Will you please take me to Inuyasha? We need to find him and let him know what's going on. We can't leave him behind."

Instead of answering her directly, Sesshomaru looked at the human child in his care. "Rin, remain here until my return." Then he leveled a cold glare at his other companion. "Jaken, protect Rin or forfeit your life."

"Ah, y-yes, milord," Jaken stammered, swallowing hard at the death glare impaling him.

Kagome ran out of the hut and when Sesshomaru moved to follow her, Rin called out, "Be safe, Sesshomaru-sama and Kagome-sama!"

Kagome halted and allowed Sesshomaru to catch up to her before asking quickly, "Do you know where Inuyasha went?"

Wordlessly, Sesshomaru tilted his head back to sniff the air before bending his knees. "Climb on my back."

Kagome did so without hesitation, easily maneuvering into a position she had done countless times with Inuyasha. Her hands holding tightly to his shoulders, she felt his hands move to grasp her legs just short of her behind as she squeezed her inner thighs around his hips.

Once she was secure, he was off, racing through the village, quickly gaining the forest's cover and racing towards his brother. Though he was not keen on the idea of being in Inuyasha's presence again, Sesshomaru made no complaints. He had a mission—to prove himself worthy in this small human's eyes and also to himself.

Soon, it became apparent to Sesshomaru that Inuyasha was on the move.

"Inuyasha moves further away from us," he informed Kagome.

Surprised, she gazed at the back of his head, his long, sliver tresses brushing across her face. "What? Are you sure?"

He nodded and picked up speed.

Kagome gasped and lowered her head, burying her face in his hair, her eyes tightly clenched shut, trying to protect herself from the buffering wind. It wasn't long before she felt a familiar aura and noticed Sesshomaru slowing down slightly.

"Sesshomaru?! What are you doing here, and why are you touching Kagome?" demanded Inuyasha angrily, shooting his older brother a hateful glare.

It was Kagome who answered, questioning, "Where are you going, Inuyasha? We have to go back! Sango, Miroku, and Shippo have left to save Kohoku after Kagura came to tell us he was in danger."

"What?" Inuyasha said, surprised, gazing over at her for a second, but he did not slow his fast pace. Then he growled. "I can't! Kanna just told me Kikyo was in trouble. I have to save her!"

"But what about our friends?!" demanded Kagome, her worry for her friends mounting with every minute that passed that they weren't heading in their direction. Surely her friends were heading into a trap. Didn't Inuyasha realize that?

"I'm sure they'll be fine," argued Inuyasha, though he, too, looked worried. "Sango and Miroku are strong, for humans. They can handle it, but Kikyo is all alone. I can't abandon her!"

Kagome frowned at his answer, though she understood his need to save the woman he loved, despite her already undead state. Why couldn't Inuyasha understand that Kikyo was already dead, that it was the living they had to save? More importantly, they were their friends, but she knew the futility of arguing and decided to continue following Inuyasha.

Sango had Miroku and Shippo to help her save Kohoku, while Inuyasha had no one if she chose to ask Sesshomaru to turn back and follow the others.

Inuyasha surprised her by yelling, "Hey, Sesshomaru?! Hand Kagome over to me. We don't need your help."

"This Sesshomaru thinks not. I am much more capable of protecting her than a half-breed ever could."

"What did you say, you bastard?!"

"That was mean," Kagome murmured in Sesshomaru's ear, and he inwardly froze.

He hadn't even realized his slip of the tongue in calling his brother a 'half-breed' until she had brought it to his attention. Berating himself for his mistake, Sesshomaru once again felt unworthy in her company, felt as if his touch somehow sullied her where his hands gripped her thighs.

"Do you wish to be released to Inuyasha?" he asked her monotonously, hating the thought but forced himself to offer. He didn't know if she now wanted away from him, away from his touch after his slip. If so, he wouldn't blame her, knowing she had every right to be upset at him for his words.

Kagome shook her head and said, "No, I'm fine where I am."

She didn't know of Sesshomaru's inner turmoil, too caught up in her own. She tightened her thighs around his hips, not wanting him to hand her over to Inuyasha. Right now, he was racing to save Kikyo, focused mainly on the other woman, and she really didn't want to be that close to him right now. It hurt too much.

"Are you serious, Kagome?!" Inuyasha shouted indignantly, obviously overhearing her conversation with Sesshomaru, curse his hanyou ears. "You can't really prefer that bastard carrying you over me."

"And if I do?" she asked, deadly serious, glancing over at him with a familiar, scary look that had his eyes widening in instant fear when he turned and saw her expression.

Inuyasha swallowed before huffing in irritation.

Sighing, attempting to calm her friend, she said, "There's no need to delay for even a second. We have to save Kikyo, right?"

Obviously, she said the wrong thing.

"I don't need _his_ help," he groused sullenly, glaring at Sesshomaru.

Kagome sighed at Inuyasha's continual childishness and wondered at Sesshomaru's restrain by not reprimanding Inuyasha's verbal insults. Not that she minded, but she was surprised he didn't reciprocate. In fact, he acted like he didn't care what Inuyasha had to say to and about him.

"You know," Kagome began after a short silence as the brothers continued to race through the forest. "This is most likely a trap set by Naraku in an effort to separate us."

"I have to save Kikyo," Inuyasha stated, not for the first time. "Besides, Sango and Miroku can take care of themselves. No way would they fall for any of Naraku's schemes."

 _Kikyo, Kikyo, Kikyo_ , Kagome thought, depressed at Inuyasha's continual insistence he protect the woman he used to, and in fact, still loved even though she was already dead. It wasn't like she _wanted_ the other miko to come in harm's way, regardless of how she sustained her life in this world, but…it hurt that Inuyasha would forget about everything and everyone else, drop anything he was doing to go run after Kikyo at just the mention of her name.

She felt devalued, like she was second best. It wasn't a very pleasant feeling. Nor the jealousy that clawed at her insides, making her think badly of herself for wanting Inuyasha to ignore Kikyo's plight. What did that make her, she wondered dismally, not for the first time?

Sesshomaru remained silent throughout Inuyasha's ranting and focused on the miko's replies, tried to stay in tuned with her ever changing emotions. A difficult endeavor at best, but it was obvious to him she acted out of character for a woman cast aside for another.

He couldn't understand her continual loyalty to his brother, her unwavering affection even though it was obvious the object of her feelings was spurning her for another woman. And yet, she still wished to help Inuyasha, didn't berate the boy for his disloyalty towards her. Many in her shoes would act much more hostile, but she did not.

Again he saw the differences between her and him, glaringly so. Never before had he thought himself selfish or self-centered, but he did so now, knowing he would not tolerate a female spurning him without turning his back on her, never to cross paths with the woman again.

And here Kagome was being kind and pushing away her hurt feelings to assist the one who wounded her so. He wondered if he could actually change and be the sort of male she would look upon with pride.

He also had a strong desire to comfort her, a strange phenomenon he had never before felt towards another. He wanted to help her like she helped him back at the river when his world had come crashing down upon the realization that he was nothing more than a hypocrite, no better than anyone else. But he didn't know how.

His inadequacies had an undesirable effect on him, making him feel useless and worthless. It left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Perhaps she would forgive him his shortcomings if he were to work with Inuyasha in saving the dead priestess, regardless of his brother's feelings on the matter. Though he doubted he would ever have any brotherly affections towards Inuyasha—as he had informed Kagome earlier—but perhaps they could be reluctant allies.

Very reluctant.

Sesshomaru was brought out of his thoughts abruptly when Inuyasha yelled, "Keep up will you?"

Turning his head, he noted that he wasn't lagging behind as his brother's words implied, as they were running abreast of each other, and Sesshomaru scowled. He would have said a scathing comment in return, followed by bashing Inuyasha in the face but caught himself in time. Instead, though he refused to admit the childishness of his own actions as he merely wished to prove a point, he sped up, gaining the lead.

He shot his brother a knowing, superior look when he passed him and smirked when he heard Inuyasha's answering snarl. Try as he might, Inuyasha could not catch up with him though he was no more than a couple feet in front of him, just out of reach, knowing it would madden the rash boy further.

"Will you stop showing off?!" Inuyasha hollered after several minutes of his failed attempts to regain the lead.

"What's the matter, little brother?" Sesshomaru taunted, though his voice was without infliction. "Didn't you want this Sesshomaru to run faster?"

"Yeah, well, you don't know where Kikyo is. I do, so I should be the one leading."

"Then lead," Sesshomaru said carelessly, not reducing his speed in the slightest.

He heard his brother sputter indignantly, amusing Sesshomaru immensely.

"Perhaps you should reveal the location of your dead miko so we won't have to waste any more time in her rescue. She will be retrieved by the time you arrive."

"I don't need your help, bastard!"

"Inuyasha!" Kagome reprimanded, a tick forming on her brow in her growing irritation. "Will you stop being childish for five seconds? Sesshomaru's only trying to help."

"Why are you taking his side, Kagome?" sputtered Inuyasha.

"I'm not on any one's side!" Kagome huffed, fed up. "Forget it. Let's just focus on saving Kikyo, alright?"

"Keh, whatever."

Decelerating his pace slightly, Sesshomaru once again ran alongside his brother, ignoring the glare the boy shot his way, and allowed Inuyasha to guide him to the dead miko's location, though he refused to run even a centimeter behind the brat.

Silence reigned as they continued on their journey, knowing a trap was most likely awaiting them.


	10. Hellfire

Something was wrong. Kagome could feel it in the air. Before she could figure out what it was she was feeling, she hazarded a look around. Her eyes squinted as the wind rushed against her face, caused by the speed at which Sesshomaru ran so effortlessly. It was then she saw them: soul collectors. They had to be none other than Kikyo's, yet the maiden was nowhere in sight.

Not a second later, dark magic tingled along her flesh. As if the white wraths felt the pulse of energy too, they disintegrated. Gazing behind them, it was obvious there was some sort of line drawn that they could not pass, which meant—

"Kikyo's in trouble!" Inuyasha's worried exclamation was unnecessary.

"A dark miko's magic is at work here," cautioned Sesshomaru.

Inuyasha called out to his elder brother, his comment snide and mocking. "What? Scared of a human woman, Sesshomaru?"

Unperturbed, Sesshomaru did not rise to Inuyasha's taunts. "You would be wise to tread cautiously, _little brother_."

"Don't call me that!" Inuyasha spat.

"Would you stop fighting?!" Kagome almost raised her voice, already fed up with the family feud neither brother seemed disinclined to lay to rest.

However, she had to give Sesshomaru credit. It was Inuyasha usually behind the antagonistic remarks, as if he was trying to start a fight. A fight that had been proven many times in the past that he was unlikely to win, unless lady luck herself was planted firmly on his shoulder.

No more was spoken, because the forest they had been travelling through opened up to a small clearing, more like an opening in the trees than a real clearing. In the center, the earth was caved in, and a scene that was all too familiar replayed itself before her eyes.

"Kikyo!" The scream that Inuyasha let out was loud, an angry denial at what his eyes told him to be true.

Kikyo was being dragged to hell.

A noticeable difference this time around was that she did not seem overly willing to relinquish the half-life she trod. Around her legs, wrapped around her waist was a heavy chain, one that glowed like hellfire. However, she did not seem to burn, even the flames of hell swirling around the gate did not touch her imitation flesh or set her clothes alight. Slowly, like quick sand, she descended. There was also a strange wind, sucking the air inwards. Kagome's hair, as did her two companions', flapped towards the hole, their clothes lightly rustling.

They were close enough even for Kagome to easily witness the terror etched upon Kikyo's face as she tried valiantly to free herself. Her arms yet free, she struck out at the chain around her body with her long bow, her holy light ineffectively lashing the restraint.

At her name, when Inuyasha screamed it a second time, her head lifted. Without hesitation, Kikyo lifted a hand towards Inuyasha beseechingly.

"Inuyasha!"

However, as soon as he took a step towards her, she yelled at him. "No! Stay back!" She hadn't been crying out for him to save her. No, she was trying to save him from acting the hero, ultimately causing both of their deaths.

Kagome climbed off of Sesshomaru's back, feeling a desperation to save the other woman. Hurt feelings and jealousy aside, she could not watch this horrific scene and do _nothing_!

"It is the dark miko's doing," intoned Sesshomaru.

Looking up at his face, Kagome could not detect even a glimmer of care for Kikyo's plight, or the emotional turmoil his brother surely was feeling at the sight of the one he loved most about to die again.

"You fool!" hissed Sesshomaru, a slight pinch to his features. The only sign of his displeasure as he swung his arm out in a wide arc.

A green light emerged from two pointed clawed fingers. The whip encircled Inuyasha's waist as he launched himself towards Kikyo, heedless of the danger. Kagome gasped in understanding, horrified that her friend would so easily forfeit his life, because surely he understood the ramifications of the futile attempt at pulling her from death's door.

With a jerk, Sesshomaru yanked Inuyasha backwards. The red clad figure fell to the dirt at their feet with a groan after impact.

"No! Kikyo!" hollered Inuyasha, looking at the woman in question.

Kikyo's legs where gone, enveloped in the abyss. The chain around her legs had moved, encircling her torso. Her left arm was pinned to her body, but her free arm was outstretched in the air, as if its freedom would somehow extract her from peril.

Inuyasha tried to stand and run to her, but Sesshomaru kicked him in the back. He landed face first in the dirt. Angry, his eyes wide and nearly insane from the events unfolding, he yelled at his brother.

"Don't get in my way! I have to save her!"

"She is beyond your ability to save, half-breed."

Inuyasha got to his feet, challenging Sesshomaru. "I have to try!"

"And you _will_ die."

Bluntly put, Inuyasha's suicide mission was out in the open. There was no denying that was exactly what he was attempting to do.

"As if you care what happens to me, bastard."

Sesshomaru didn't react to the accusation. Kagome knew it was most likely true, and wasn't that sad? They were brothers, half or otherwise. Her heart breaking at the realization that Inuyasha wished to die with Kikyo, to be dragged into hell along with her, kept her mute. She allowed Sesshomaru to try and talk some sense into the other male, or at least Kagome thought that was his intention. It came as no little surprise that he even tried. But right now, she could not dwell on the whys of the matter.

"But I care," she murmured loud enough for both males to hear. Kagome lifted teary eyes to her friend, fists clenched at her sides when all she wanted to do was fling herself at him and pound on his chest and scream and cry. Instead, she controlled the mad impulse, her nails biting into her palms to ground her.

"Does that mean nothing to you, Inuyasha?"

He looked as if he'd been struck, before he glanced away and at the ground. His dog ears flattened upon his head.

Just then, Kikyo let out a shrill cry. Everyone turned to see that she was now buried to her collarbone. The chain had somehow slithered further up to encircle her uplifted arm. Eyes to the sky, she reached for it like a drowning person.

"Where is that dark miko?!" Frantically, Inuyasha looked around, as if the faceless woman hid behind a nearby tree. "She's the cause of this," he continued madly. "We kill her, we break the spell, right? _Right?!_ "

There was no point in telling him the sad truth: that the dark priestess was most likely far from here, hidden safely away, and possibly watching them through her magic. There was no way they could find her in time to save Kikyo.

Inuyasha took the few steps to the edge of the ground where the earth caved in. Kagome held her breath. Would he jump? Would he allow himself to be dragged down with Kikyo? Her heart cried out in fierce denial. Her lips parted to cry his name, but she was cut off before her pain could be given voice.

"Stay back, Inuyasha!" Kikyo was staring at the hanyou. There was something awful about her eyes, the very expression on her face. Acceptance. There was no saving her, the woman knew. Though tears fell from her eyes, she no longer fought the inevitable.

"I am already dead. You must live. Live for me," Kikyo beseeched.

Though she was upset at Inuyasha's devotion for another, Kagome's heart ached for the pain both of them were going through.

"Can she really not be saved?" she whispered to no one, an entreaty for the kami to intervene. What was happening was beyond what her heart could bear. Such tragedy could move even mountains.

Sesshomaru stood unmoved by the events. He cared not that the imitation of a miko was being dragged where she rightfully belonged, for she was not in fact a part of the living. Nor did his heart crack at the sight of his brother's anguish. He was removed from the pain. He did not care.

However, at Kagome's forlorn question, he turned to stare at her instead of the form of his kneeling half-brother. Though he saw her face only in profile, he saw enough. Whereas he felt nothing, it was apparent Kagome felt far too much.

Why? Shouldn't she be thrilled her adversary for Inuyasha's affections was not long for this world? And yet somehow, the fact that she did in fact care came as no surprise.

Not sure if what he was about to do would actually help, Sesshomaru decided to try—for Kagome—before his fool of a brother tried to jump into the pit again. With a bend of his knees, he leapt forward, over the kneeling form of his brother, whose arm was outstretched towards the dead priestess.

Her head and arm were the only parts of her body that was yet free. Unsheathing Tenseiga, he cut the chains around her arm. Before he passed over her head, he grabbed her arm and yanked. Stopping his forward motion by hovering in the air with his youki cloud, he kept hold of the dead woman, pulling her up, while he swiped at the chains holding her waist.

Because they were hell's restraints, his sword of heaven cut through the links easily. With a clatter as if they were made of metal from this world, the chain fell from Kikyo's body. Another yank and she was in his arms, pressed securely against his chest.

Victim lost, the gates of hell began to close. The eerie wind that had been sucking the air into the depths of hell began to abate.

Kikyo was not the woman he desired within his arms, so he moved swiftly through the air, but not before securing his free arm—after sheathing his sword at his side—around Kagome's waist. Both women secured, he raced to where the ghostly creatures hung back in worry for their mistress.

It was unlikely safe to deposit the undead miko upon the ground the dark witch had enchanted, so he kept a hold on her until they reached her soul collectors. He wasted no time releasing the dead woman when their feet touched the earth, but he kept Kagome at his side. Looking down at her, he thought perhaps he should release her, until Inuyasha erupted through the trees, screaming at him for taking Kikyo.

Upon seeing her safe, Inuyasha grabbed Kikyo and held onto her after retreating a few feet away from his brother. Sesshomaru doubted the boy was even aware he still held his companion. Most likely, she had been forgotten, but not by him. Again he looked down at the girl's bent head. Should he let her go?

As soon as the thought reentered his mind, the girl edged closer to him. Though he could not see her face, there was no doubt in his mind that she was hurting from Inuyasha's neglect and love for the undead. Did she feel regret that the other yet lived now that the tragedy had passed?

In a move almost considered violent, Kagome suddenly scrubbed her face with her arm. The salt of her sorrow reached his senses. She wept. He had no idea how to stop her pain. Her heart bled but not in a physical way that he could try to staunch the bleeding. It was all emotional.

His arm was already held loosely around her waist. Should he tighten his hold in a semblance of an embrace? Before he could decide what he should do in a clumsy excuse as aid, she spoke.

"I'm happy for them. Truly… I am."

Kagome tipped her head back to meet his gaze. She tried to smile, but her lips did not quite complete the gesture. Her attempt was more pitiful than reassuring. She must have realized it, for she dropped the charade, as well as her head so he could no longer see her expression.

More salt, signaling a floodgate of tears. Just because he could not see them did not mean he was unaware.

"You must think I'm horrid… for crying. You must think I wanted her to die by how I'm reacting." She sniffled. She looked up at him, eyes conflicted. "The truth is… I don't know."

Admitting to something she obviously felt was a heinous crime seemed to crush her, for Kagome buried her face in her hands. Though she was mostly silently, other than ragged breaths, her shoulders shook violently.

On reflex, Sesshomaru lifted his other arm, intending to turn the girl into his body to give the comfort she undoubtedly needed; however, Inuyasha's brash voice halted him.

"Hey, Sesshomaru. What did you do to Kagome?!"

And there he stood, anger in his eyes, and a snarl curving one side of his lips. Inuyasha grabbed Kagome's arm and yanked her against his chest. She stumbled with a small cry of surprise, but the boy caught her easily, and moved them a few steps back, away from Sesshomaru.

To say Sesshomaru was instantly angered by Inuyasha's audacity was putting it mildly. But what was he to do when the girl did not fight his brother's hold? Still she cried, sheltered in the other man's arms. Seeing her there filled Sesshomaru with a strange feeling in the pit of his gut.

Though he seemed to comfort the girl with an arm around her waist, Inuyasha held the hilt of his sword in silent warning towards Sesshomaru to keep his distance. Not that he was worried about the half-breed's threat.

"If you've hurt her—"

Angered anew, Sesshomaru interrupted him. "It is not I who has caused the miko distress but you, Inuyasha."

Confused, Inuyasha dropped his gaze to Kagome's bent head. At the attention brought onto her, she jerked away from Inuyasha, and refused to look at either male. Understanding flashed in the boy's eyes, before those ridiculous dog ears, proof of his half-blood, flattened upon his skull, and he, too, looked away. Perhaps ashamed. Sesshomaru wasn't sure, but he sensed the undercurrents of confusion and hurt between the two.

Silence reigned for long minutes.

"Where's Kikyo?" whispered Kagome.

Inuyasha glanced at her, then away again. "Ah…gone. She's gone."

Kagome was silent a moment longer, as if waiting for an explanation, but none was forthcoming. "Then we should go find the others. They may need our help."

"Right," murmured Inuyasha, though his eyes landed on Kagome in what seemed a hopeless manner.

Knowing the brat meant to offer Kagome a ride upon his back when Inuyasha began to bend his knees, Sesshomaru intercepted. Stepping forward to gain Kagome's attention before she noticed Inuyasha's movement, since her gaze was still averted for the time being, Sesshomaru wordlessly offered his back first. Kagome climbed aboard, her weight insignificant. Before Inuyasha could voice a protest, he ran towards Kaede's village, intending to track the humans' scents from there.


	11. Theft

Darkness surrounds.

It consumes.

Hapless victims fear the absence of light, for monsters and devilish creatures do dwell at night. The shadows were alive with anticipation, waiting to unleash a half-demon's malevolence. In a dark castle, secluded, nearly all alone, evil sat, gazing inwards, reflective.

"She has escaped…"

The obviousness of the woman's statement before him caused his lips to twitch, but he fought off that telltale smirk. He knew. He understood the human's need to speak, to utter a sound, any sound, to disrupt the quiet of the room. The only sound came from the decrepit castle's foundation itself, creaking and groaning periodically, adding to the eerie atmosphere. Though she quaked not in fear of the dark, and no closer to light than he, the human smelled lightly of fear.

 _Good._

She understood her place. To tremble in awe at his power and influence, to respect the very air he breathed. He was in command. He was all-powerful. And soon, Inuyasha and his ragtag group, along with that detestable Western Lord, would understand they stood on the wrong side, for to stand against him, to dare to even slander his name, death was their penance. All of them. None would be exempt. Not the elderly, nor the youth. The best lessons in respect were harsh ones, and one day soon, the whole nation would bow before his might!

Until that day, he lay in wait, amusing himself by orchestrating others to do his bidding, and to cause travesty and mayhem, discord and chaos in his wake. That was his only true pleasure: pain. And he dealt it out without mercy or prejudice.

"My lord… Naraku?" came that low voice again.

He'd actually forgotten the dark priestess' presence for a moment, lost within the labyrinth of his mind. Turning his gaze upon the woman, he noted the slight lowering of her eyes, evading his gaze. He knew the crimson quality of his stare intimidated most, and those fool enough not to fear his attention would soon learn the error of their bravado: futile stupidity.

"Yes," he finally murmured, his voice slithering around the room like a snake. "What a miraculous save from Lord Sesshomaru."

"His involvement was not predicted," the dark miko Rei defended, as if she feared reprisal from him, and well she should.

However, he was more interested with this new development to overly care that his quarry had escaped. Between them was a large bowl filled with a watery solution, mixed with potions and herbs and enchanted by the very woman before him. Such a contraption allowed them to see what had transpired in the small opening in the forest where Kikyo had been bound for hell. A marvelous trap set up by Rei. It was a shame the object of his human heart's obsession still walked the earth, but what fun it had been to see the torment upon Inuyasha's face. Priceless. The sight of emotional turmoil would never cease to bring Naraku immense enjoyment.

Especially upon the face of the man Kikyo would have given up everything for—once the Jewel of Four Souls had been eradicated from this world, a goal of hers half a century ago, when she yet lived and breathed a human life. Onigumo, the human he'd once been, had coveted the priestess, but his body had been broken, never to regain an independent life, let alone concur the women he'd been obsessed with. Though Naraku despised the weakness he'd yet been unable to ride himself of, a tumor called a heart, it was because of that all-consuming desire that he had been born, rebirthed from the burnt remains of human flesh.

Coming back to the present, Naraku contemplated this new development with a certain daiyoukai.

"Lord Sesshomaru does seem overly protective of Kikyo's reincarnation, doesn't he?" A rhetorical question. Rei either noticed or had no comment for she said nothing to that. Naraku wondered how deep that protective streak ran, and if it could be exploited. He chuckled at the possibilities.

"They travel to meet up with their companions."

"Again with the obvious statements," murmured Naraku, eying the dark miko steadily, seeing how she stiffened under his attention. An inward thrill at her unease banked his annoyance at her tendency to speak when unnecessary. After all, who wouldn't show signs of trepidation when in his formidable company, he reasoned, giving her an excuse while in an exceptional mood.

"My apologies, my lord Naraku. I meant no offense." Rei gifted him with a bow of her head and shoulders. His ego appreciated the sign of respect.

Yet still he toyed with her, as it was his way. He grinned, purposefully flashing a hint of fang. "Forgiveness comes at a price." His voice was smooth as silk as he issued that threat.

Rei swallowed noticeably.

Interrupted her when she parted her lips to speak, noting how her eyes were a little too wide, Naraku turned away from her to gaze into the seeing pool, though at present he merely saw his reflection. "Won't they be surprised with what I have in store for them?" Instead of feeling pleasure that his scheming ways were soon to be sprung, a flash of anger flooded his chest. "I am through playing games. Today, they die."

 _Why is she snuggling so close to_ him _of all people?_ Inuyasha wondered moodily, not for the first time, gifting his elder brother with another glare; though, it went unnoticed.

His gaze lowered to Kagome's bare thigh, eyeing the offending hand that grasped her leg a little too high for his peace of mind. He detested the arm's regrowth. His hand clenched around the hilt of Tetsusaiga, more than tempted to sever the offending limb again. However, he was forced to control that all too satisfying thought, because Kagome seemed happy enough to allow Sesshomaru to carry her.

Vexing!

 _Why?!_ he wanted to demand of her, but at the sight of her unhappy profile, he knew, and all the anger he felt bottled in his chest evaporated. His ears flattened upon is skull as he looked away. He didn't see the landscape they travelled, gaze inward. What he saw there was another woman, one that held a strong resemblance to his futuristic friend.

Inuyasha wondered if Kagome would completely resemble Kikyo in a few years, once they were of an age before Kikyo had died. Kagome still had some of her baby fat in her cheeks, made a little more round than Kikyo's because of her youth. Would it melt away, leaving a sharper face, revealing those high cheek bones in stark relief? Kagome was shorter than Kikyo by a good head. And her hair was darker, almost blue when the sun hit it just right, while Kikyo's was a softer shade.

Both women had an athletic build with a tiny waist.

However, the biggest difference in the two women was the look in their eyes. Where one held a wise wisdom, a detached intelligence, the other was open, unfathomably kind and optimistic. Even if Kagome were to become an exact replica of Kikyo physically, he'd always be able to tell them apart by their eyes. Unless Kagome were to become jaded by time. Inuyasha doubted that was possible.

Reflecting on his emotional entanglement with Kikyo, the fact that Kagome was fully aware, and once again stood witness to, it was no wonder she didn't want to be near him right now. Knowing how he'd caused her such pain created an echo to reverberate within his chest. She deserved better than the way he always treated her as second best, but did she have to run to his _brother_ of all people? His jealousy may have been unfair considering how he put Kagome through the same harsh feeling without a second thought whenever it concerned Kikyo, but he couldn't help the way he felt: possessive towards both women.

Just because he couldn't have Kagome didn't mean he wanted anyone else to have her, either, and didn't that just make him the vilest cretin in the universe? He was not proud of the way he was handling the situation with both women, yet it seemed he was stuck to repeat the same cycle without end. At least until one of them died…

Inuyasha shook his head in fierce denial of that thought.

Suddenly, he went down. Face sliding painfully across the ground before angling his body into a roll to better right himself, Inuyasha jumped to his feet, sputtering. His face hurt, feeling as if it had been rubbed raw. His nose stung above all else. Had he broken it?

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried out, and suddenly she was standing before him. Her hands were on his chest, her face looking up at him with such concern, something within him calmed. "Are you alright?"

Sesshomaru answered for him. "Tripping over your own feet." That condescending remark was no question.

Stiffening in anger, growling at the bastard, Inuyasha pointed from the direction they'd come. "No, asshole. Something tripped me."

The bored look Sesshomaru gave him was his only reply.

"As long as you're ok—" Kagome shrieked, her words cut off abruptly.

A dark mass had sprung up between them, ballooning outwards, and exploding with a huge gust of air. Both she and Inuyasha were flung back, his own surprised cry mirroring Kagome's. With a thud, he ended up on the ground for the second time, in less than two minutes. Before he could regain his feet and prepare for an enemy he had yet to lay eyes upon, another dark mass converged over him, pinning him to the ground in a crushing squeeze.

"What the hell?!" he shouted, feeling the mass move and writher as if alive.

The strange sensation lasted no longer than a few seconds, and he was released. Jumping to his feet, glancing around aggressively, Inuyasha's hand went to the hilt of his sword on reflex. However, all his searching hand could grasp was air. Swiveling his head so fast his neck creaked, he glanced down and saw his hip, his fire rat robes, and no Tetsusaiga. Hilt and all, his father's fang was gone.

"Tetsusaiga?!" Glancing around upon the ground like a madman, Inuyasha tried to locate his sword.

"What the heck is going on?!"

Inuyasha didn't even look at Kagome to answer her loud exclamation. "It's Tetsusaiga! It's gone!"

"What?!"

Finally glancing at his companions, he saw his friend was way too close to his brother, but his hate and jealousy was nowhere near as strong as his anger and panic over his missing blade. "It was that black thing! It took my sword! What the hell was that… thing?"

"A creature of the shadows," supplied Sesshomaru.

"You got something to say, than say it!" commanded Inuyasha, needing answers.

Sesshomaru eyed him with contempt. "You lost our father's fang to a shadow demon."

"A shadow demon?" parroted Kagome quietly, glancing around as if trying to spot the demon in question. Then she asked the question they all were probably thinking. "What does it want with Tetsusaiga?"

"Who the hell cares?" hollered Inuyasha. "We need to find the bastard!" Dropping to the ground, he tried to find the demon's scent. Either it had none—impossible!—or his half-demon nose was not strong enough to pick up the scent. Another impossibility with him being right on top of where the dark figure had pinned him to the ground.

"A shadow demon leaves behind no scent while in its shadow form."

"And how do you know _that_?" he spat at his brother without stopping his attempts to pick up a trail.

"This Sesshomaru makes a point of knowing."

"Knowledge is power."

Inuyasha stared at Kagome incredulously. "Why are you on _his_ side?!"

Kagome glared at him for his comment. "I'm not on anyone's side. How many times do I have to repeat myself?"

"Coulda fooled me," he muttered.

"What was that?" came her strident retort.

His ears flattened upon his skull as he wondered, in some trepidation, if his face was about to kiss the dirt again. His nose would truly break then. Unable to stop his body's instant response to the threat she posed, he stiffened in preparation for impact, right hand flying to cover his injured nose as if to save it from further abuse.

When he remained silent, Kagome spoke again. "I know your father's fang is important, Inuyasha, but we need to find our friends. They could be in danger."

"But Tetsusaiga!" he protested, turning to see that she was already climbing onto Sesshomaru's back. He glared in envy when his brother clasped her shapely thighs.

"Perhaps you will learn to respect father's blade by its absence."

Inuyasha growled, hating his brother anew.


	12. Captured

Kagome gasped before crying out her friends' names, for Miroku and Sango were before them, suspended in a bird-like cage.

She had been travelling with the two inuyoukai for another hour at least, both males tracking the scent of the monk and demon slayer. Despite Inuyasha's unhappiness with his brother's involvement and the loss of his sword, he kept his mouth shut in moody silence. It would have been uncomfortable had she not been worried for what lie ahead.

Her worst fears realized, part of her gang had been captured. A gnarled tree-like monstrosity, with its branches forming a human sized cage, stood several yards before them. It was no natural tree but one grown from magic. Suspended high in the air, Miroku and Sango gripped the cage bars and shouted back at them, worry etched in both their faces. For them, Kagome knew, and not themselves.

Before she was aware of anything else about the area and situation she found herself in, a loud noise wracked her ears. The ground shook, erupting around them, flinging dirt like a geyser. Still firmly held on Sesshomaru's back, he jumped swiftly to the side. The move so quick and unexpected, Kagome feared she'd fly right off his back to crash onto the ground, but hold on she did, reflexes taking hold. Inuyasha had often jumped around, making her feel like a ragdoll, so she had become accustomed to reacting to unexpected and inhuman reflexes to hold onto her perch. One too many painful landings had taught her to hold on.

"What's going—Inuyasha!" Gasping in shocked horror, Kagome saw that Inuyasha had not been so lucky as to evade the trap waiting for them. A cage had sprung from the ground, as tree-like as the one holding her other friends.

Inuyasha chuckled, arrogantly smirking. "You think this can hold me?" Cracking his knuckles, he lashed out with an, "Iron Reaver!" Instead of the wood splintering under his deadly claws, they remained intact without being seemingly affected.

"What…?" her hanyou friend muttered in astonishment. Growling, he went on a rampage of clawing and swiping, yet still the strange bark held.

Struggling down from Sesshomaru's back, Kagome tried to go to her friend. However, though she regained her footing upon the ground, a large hand wrapped securely around her wrist. Glancing back, she saw Sesshomaru, but he was not looking at her. His intense gaze was focused upwards.

"Naraku." That was all he said, but it was enough.

Swinging her gaze around in the direction Sesshomaru was looking towards, she saw him. Dressed in a white baboon suit, Naraku was suspended in the air, kneeling upon one knee as if on a hard surface, his toxic miasma beneath him. The blue baboon mask concealed his features, and that was when she knew without a questionable doubt that this was yet another puppet. Naraku, the coward, would never show himself in person.

But more surprising was the kid who stood beside him.

"Kohaku?" Staring at the boy, Kagome glanced over at Sango, her heart going out to the other woman. Siblings by blood, Naraku kept them apart by controlling the young boy. Worse, Kohaku was nothing more than a corpse held together and alive by the power of a single jewel shard.

"Hey, gimmie back Tetsusaiga!"

At Inuyasha's holler, Kagome glanced back towards the sky. But it wasn't Naraku who held the great sword. Kohaku did.

"Lose something, Inuyasha?" Naraku taunted.

"Release me and fight me, you coward! I don't need Tetsusaiga to beat you."

Naraku chuckled after that boastful claim. "You never were the brightest among your companions."

Offended, Inuyasha lashed out at the cage that held him, getting nowhere fast. "Coward!"

"Another false body, Naraku? My idiot brother is correct, for once," intoned Sesshomaru. "Are you such a coward you quake at the thought of confronting me yourself?"

Kagome turned to Sesshomaru, who had released her wrist long before the verbal sparring had begun. He stood tall and unaffected by the situation they found themselves in; though, his gaze was centered in his foe with deathly intent. Glancing lower, she saw his knuckles twitch as if ready to strike.

As if unruffled by the taunt, Naraku shook his head. "I am not your opponent today, Lord Sesshomaru. Nor will you be the first to die."

With those ominous words spoken, a scream spooked Kagome. Swiveling around towards Inuyasha, she saw him flat on his back upon the ground. He leveled up on his elbows with a groan.

"Inuyasha!" She would have ran to him but her wrist was captured for the second time that day. She didn't have to look behind her to know it was Sesshomaru. "Are you alright?!" she didn't even try to fight that vice-like grip as she shouted at her friend.

"I'm fine," Inuyasha assured her. "Stay back, Kagome!"

She was sorely tempted to ignore that order and instead issue one of her own at the demon behind her to let her go, but Kagome refrained. Biting her bottom lip, she was helpless to do anything other than watch what horrors Naraku had next. Unfortunately, she did not have to wait long.

Suddenly, something dark struck from the ground. It wasn't until after Inuyasha cried out in shocked pain and jerked away to glance behind him that Kagome saw what had attacked him for the second time. A black spike protruded from the ground. Slowly, it lost its solid form, wavering in the air like insubstantial wind.

"What is that…?" Her voiced was hushed as she voiced her question, yet her companion heard her easily.

"The shadow demon from before, I would gather." Smooth as silk, and unfeeling as a statue, Sesshomaru's voice echoed the still pureness of his face as he watched on as his brother's life was put in danger.

Kagome felt a pang of sorrow well within her heart at the demon lord's utter lack of sympathy and compassion towards his sibling. Was this really the man she had agreed to help? Was he the same man who'd asked her to show him how to become better than the self-righteous hypocrite he'd once been?

His entreaty whispered through her mind. _'Teach me, miko. Teach me to be a better man.'_

However, from where she stood, he wasn't making much of an effort, but then, she thought absentmindedly, was he even capable of caring for someone he'd never seen much value in? And in fact resented _every_ breath Inuyasha breathed? Though Inuyasha was his brother, Sesshomaru's feelings for his younger half-sibling were rooted in hatred.

' _The half-breed, my little brother who was the downfall of my father, should expect nothing from me.'_ Such bitter words, hiding a pain even Sesshomaru refused to acknowledge, she had no doubt.

She was foolish to think change could happen swiftly, that he might suddenly grow fond of someone he'd always despised. It was sad, incredibly soul wrenching when she thought of a young Inuyasha, alone, lost, and growing up knowing that no one cared. Not even his older brother.

By Sesshomaru's lack of care as his brother faced off with a formidable foe, Kagome was reminded of this gross unfairness towards a man she called friend and loved dearly. Should she hate Sesshomaru, or at the very least dislike him to some degree? Should she not turn her back on him as he had done to her friend when Inuyasha had needed his brother's guidance the most?

Part of her was angry, while another part was immeasurably sad. No, more hatred would not stop this vicious cycle. Turning back to watch Inuyasha fight off the shadows that surrounded him, Kagome resolved herself to be the example Sesshomaru needed to grow as a decent individual, and cast aside a hatred that held no meaning. Melancholy slipped past her conviction as she recalled a brief conversation she'd had with the demon lord the time he'd cuddled her close all through the night the day she'd washed the blood from his body.

' _You mean, you'll try to be a family with Inuyasha?'_

' _No, there is too much bad blood between us.'_ Sesshomaru's voice had been gentle in its finality. _'However, this Sesshomaru can offer a truce and an alliance with the half-breed.'_

Kagome took heart in his promise of a truce. It was more than she could have asked for. She couldn't help but wonder if Inuyasha would give Sesshomaru the chance to make amends in his own stand-offish way.

Her thoughts took no longer than a few minutes, lightening quick, yet already Inuyasha was bloodied, while his opponent was still nothing more than a black mass. Its form was like smoke, yet darker than midnight, making it impossible for Inuyasha to touch, let alone strike. Yet it was able to harm her friend, which frightened her.

Though she kept her eyes on Inuyasha, her question was given to Sesshomaru, who still stood close behind her. "What's going on? Why can't he touch that thing?!"

"Are you capable of touching your shadow, Kagome?"

She turned to glance at him for a second. "What?"

Golden eyes met hers for a brief moment. "Your shadow exists, but you cannot truly touch it."

Understanding sunk in like a heavy weight as she turned back to Inuyasha. "Then how is it able to attack? It's going to kill him!" Her heart cried out in fierce denial at the mere thought.

While her voice held all the emotions she felt, Sesshomaru's was as toneless as the grave."Once the shadow demon is ready to strike, its form solidifies long enough to draw blood. Then like a coward, it becomes shadow once more."

"How is he supposed to kill it then?"

"Timing is everything."

Kagome was not comforted by this answer.

"Inuyasha, _please_ be careful." Her prayer spoken aloud, she clasped her hands before her stomach and watched Inuyasha's blood flow red in the harsh light of day.


	13. Subjugate

_Dammit, think! How am I supposed to kill something I can't touch?_

Watching the ground, Inuyasha thought quickly, trying desperately to come up with a plan that didn't involve getting himself killed. The dark mass shifted, then charged. Back flipping in the air to avoid the strike, he lashed out with his claws on reflex, not really believing he'd cut anything. But then he did.

Shocked, Inuyasha landed soundlessly, gazing at the square of fabric that had floated to the ground. What was more, there were a few specks of blood staining the cloth. His inhuman gaze searched and found several more drops soaking into the ground.

A confident smirk curved his lips.

 _So there_ is _a way to kill it._ He just had to wait for the creature to attack him. _And then I'll have him!_

So caught up in jubilation at this unexpected revelation, he missed how the shadow slithered behind him. It wasn't until his eyes perceived a black blade immerging from his foot that he realized the shadow demon had struck. From beneath his foot, the dark mass pierced through flesh and bone. A horrendous agony shot up his leg from the wound.

He screamed, part in shock, but also pain.

"Inuyasha!" He didn't even glance over at Kagome's agonized wail. Moving fast, his nails met nothing but air. Too slow! The darkness became shadow once more, leaving behind a circular hole in the center of his foot. His blood heavy in the air, Inuyasha stumbled back.

That had been no blade, but the shadow taking form to pierce his flesh. What kind of creature was this thing?

Each step shot torment through his foot, clear up to his hip. "Damn!" he muttered, wincing. He tried to walk as delicately as he could. Mindless of the dirt that caked the bottom of his foot, soaking up the blood that flowed freely, he was not worried about possible infection. His half-demon blood was strong enough to fight off such a human weakness.

Another attack.

He lashed out. Missed.

Again and again the same dance. The shadows waited, before hitting him almost too fast for his half-demon eyes to see. More of his blood spilled. He was always glad for his fire rat robes, for they concealed much of the damage. He knew Kagome was worried for him. He could hear her heart pounding. Or was it his own?

Was that…fear? Was he—afraid?

Slowly, a sinking feeling weighed him down, slowing his reflexes as realization struck.

 _I…can't win._

Yes, he knew this to be true. There was a ringing in his ears, fatigue setting in from muscles held too tight for far too long, and his mind became less focused. Blood loss? Or was it because he knew he was going to die that his body and mind wanted to give up the fight?

 _No. No! I…don't want to die. It can't end like this!_

Suddenly, he was immobile. For some inexplicable reason, his muscles locked. His body refused to obey his mind's command to move. Everything but his mouth seemed incapable of motion, and Inuyasha wasted no time voicing his confusion.

"What—what's going on? I can't _move_."

"Oh, no. Inuyasha!" Kagome must have heard his panicked cry. He glanced over at her, only to see her back facing him. She was before Sesshomaru, clinging to his brother's robes. Sobbing. He could hear her desperate cry. For his brother to save his life.

"Please, Sesshomaru, I'm begging you! Save him. Save Inuyasha!"

Suddenly, there was something around his throat, constricting his airway. He couldn't breathe! He tried to fight, tried to stop whatever was choking him. Nothing worked. He stood rooted to the spot, his body rebelling against his mind's command.

Like a snake wrapped around its prey, the shadows constricted his chest, wrapped around his legs, and pinned his arms to his side. The pressure around his neck was meant to draw out his death, meant to scare him. To die afraid.

Spots appeared before his eyes, darkness creeping at the edge of his vision. His lungs were on fire!

 _Can't…breathe. Am I going to die like this?_ Somehow, this slow death was more pitiful than if he'd fallen from a sword. Forced to submit to death. Proving he could not stop it, no matter how desperately he fought against it.

As panic slowly melted into the reality that he was not going to survive, a strange sensation centered in his chest.

 _Bump-bump. Bump-bump._

His heart was beating abnormally. Was it about to stop altogether, ending his life? And yet, even as his vision faded, his eyes sought out Kagome. However, he couldn't see her. His vision was out of focus. Just before he lost consciousness, a burst of emotion fueled his veins. The need to kill, to annihilate, to destroy was an all-consuming fire, and yet he fell into the black void of unconsciousness, even as bloodlust took the reins.

Kagome was an inconsolable mess as she watched the love of her life slowly die before her eyes. She always feared something like this would happen, that he—or one of her friends—would die. Shard hunting, fighting demons and spirits was not without major risk, no matter how strong any one of her companions were. They had been lucky thus far, despite each one of them having previously visited death's door on far too many occasions, yet they had always managed to survive.

However, this time, watching Inuyasha's face turn red, to purple, his mouth open, as if gasping for air that would not come, this time was different. Salvation was not coming. Only the demon behind her could save the day. Save his brother.

"Sesshomaru, please! I'll do anything!"

A large hand fell on her shoulder. "He will not die."

Kagome turned her horrified gaze from her friend to the demon behind her, staring up at him as if he had gone mad. "Are we watching the same thing?! Look at him!" And she pointed towards Inuyasha without looking in his direction, continuing instead to lock eyes with Sesshomaru. "That thing is killing him!"

Suddenly, he was no longer looking at her. Was he ignoring her pleas? Sadistically watching the death of his brother? Kagome was too shocked, panicky, and desperate to feel any measure of hatred at the thought.

"Look," Sesshomaru commanded.

"What?" Her voice was more of a croak. Her throat hurt as if she were the one slowly being strangled to death.

An arm wrapped around her shoulders and pressed up the front of her body, between her breasts, as her chin was grasped from behind, and she was forced to turn her head, to watch.

Just then, the shadow's constricting Inuyasha expanded, then shredded under claws that had grown impossibly long, like daggers. An animalistic snarl—no, a demonic sound of fury, far worse than any sound an animal of prey could ever produce—assaulted her ears.

Unconsciously, a shiver ran down her spine, and a chill froze the blood in her veins. Her body reacted to that sound, a baser warning for her to run from whatever beast had caused such a horrific sound. For there was no doubt that such a thing could be anything other than a wordless threat to her life.

She was human. Weak. _Prey._

And yet she was rooted at the spot, held loosely against hard armor. Though her chin was no longer held captive, forced to watch the drama inside the magical cage, her wide eyed gaze had been captured and trapped, regardless. It took a few seconds for her mind to catch up with what her eyes were telling her.

Inuyasha breaking free of his confinement. Her friend ripping the solidified shadow demon to shreds, using inhuman speeds that tore flesh like ribbons. Blood sprayed like mini geysers from the wounded shadow demon. The dark mass that now took on human form fell to the ground.

She watched as it tried to sink into the earth, to become shadow once more, but Inuyasha tore at its back. In a gory scene that she would never forget, Kagome watched as her beloved friend jerked his hand back. Only then did she realize he'd reached into his opponent to grasp his spine, and rip outwards. From her close vantage point, she saw white bone protruding from meaty flesh, and the shadow demon fell.

Dead. She knew the demon was dead.

Glancing up from the terribly shredded body, her eyes saw red. Her friend's fire rat robes were wet, darker, stained with the blood of his enemy, as well as his own. And his eyes—they had bled red.

Blue iris swam in the red of his eyes, with black slits for pupils. That demonic stare pierced her to her soul with fear. His face was splashed crimson, with lips curled back in a huge grin, baring fangs impossibly long and sharp. The expression he gave her could not be mistaken. It was a look of demonic glee at the cause of such carnage.

"Oh my God… Inuyasha…"

Bloodlust. Without Tetsusaiga, her friend's demonic blood had taken hold, saving him from certain death. Only to enslave his mind with rage and a mindless need to kill. Friend or foe meant nothing to him now. Leaving only an insatiable need, a lust for blood. She saw death in those eyes: hers.


	14. Bloodlust

Her cries echoed in his ears, while his mind's eye replayed the anguish he'd seen upon her face. Sesshomaru could not understand the deep emotion that had ravaged the small miko he held before him, yet something within him had tightened. Kagome's pain had moved him. A shocking realization. He knew he would have saved his fool of a half-brother if his aid had been necessary, but given the fact that their father's sword was no longer in Inuyasha's possession, he'd been certain the half-breed's demon blood would emerge to save the pup's life.

He had not been disappointed.

Shadow demons were tricky foe, one of the most powerful clans because of their ability to become like shadow. Would Inuyasha have won had he wielded the legendary sword, Tetsusaiga? Given the boy's lack of knowledge of his enemy, and how he'd stumbled around the cage with such lack of form or strategy, Sesshomaru didn't think so.

Then, in hindsight, another thought came to him. What if Inuyasha's bloodlust had been intentional? Surely Naraku was aware of how important the blade was at sealing away the demon within. If that was the case, what were the vermin's plans?

Kagome's other companions, the monk and demon slayer, were easy target. Naraku could have dispatched them before they had arrived, or in the ensuing violence within the cage, but he had not. The puppet—for surely the real Naraku hid far from here, the coward—knelt upon a cloud of purple miasma, seemingly content to wait, to watch.

Because he was watching the half-breed above rather than the one trapped before him, Sesshomaru saw Naraku lower his baboon pelt covered head to look at his companion. He spoke one word commandingly.

"Kohaku."

Instantly, the boy Rin was so fond of stood and jumped from that great height. Instead of plummeting to the ground to his death, the demon slayer used his kusarigama, a demon bone sickle on a chain. With an expert spin and throw, the sickle wrapped around a wooden bar of the cage confining Inuyasha, and swung inside. The motion was so smooth, it was obvious the spell around the cage allowed a select few to cross.

Or…did he cage allow one to enter but not leave, he wondered.

"Kohaku, no!"

The heartfelt scream came from the woman demon slayer. Worry etched itself on her face. He could not remember the woman's name, but he did know that the boy that now faced a feral Inuyasha was her little brother. A sibling who was dead. A corpse brought back to life with the power of a single shard from the Shikon Jewel. And controlled by Naraku. A sad tale. One that did not move him.

"Sango…"

At Kagome's murmur, he learned two things. One, the woman slayer's name, and two, that while he felt nothing for the two siblings' plight, the miko did. And because she was affected, he was, too. Why he felt this profound connection with this human, he did not know, but what he did know was that he disliked Kagome sad.

Within the cage, Inuyasha growled. Eyes on the two combatants, he witnessed Kohaku make the first strike. Lashing out with his sickle, the boy's aim was to take off Inuyasha's head; however, the blow never landed. With lengthened claws, Inuyasha deflected. A brief show of sparks and screeching erupted on contact.

Hands clasped the arm he held around Kagome, and he lowered his eyes to the top of her dark head.

"Sesshomaru, you must stop them," she begged. "With how Inuyasha is now, he'll kill Kohaku."

He was puzzled by her wish. "The boy is already dead. Nothing more than a mindless puppet."

She shook her head. "You don't understand. Sango would be crushed if anything more were to happen to him. Kohaku is her brother!"

While they spoke, the fighting continued, along with the shouts and struggles of the other two humans held captive.

"This Sesshomaru understands the situation perfectly."

"Do you?" Kagome challenged. She struggled to turn around in his arm, which he allowed. He did not lower his arm, but kept her loosely pinned to his armored chest, reluctant to let her go. "Then please save him."

He did not see how that was a good strategy. "That is not wise, Kagome. The boy is Naraku's puppet, used to manipulate your human emotions against you, as well as your companions'. Has he not done so numerous times in the past?"

The painful truth of his words entered her eyes. She knew he was correct, but she was stubborn.

"There's already been enough death. Maybe we can save him!"

He spoke gently. The truth was harsh enough without his tone making it harder to hear. "You cannot bring back the dead."

Her small hands clung to him. "But you can!" Her small fingers grazed his armored hip, not touching either of his blades, but bringing focus to them. "Tenseiga is capable of such miracles!"

It was his turn to slowly shake his head. "That boy's soul entered the afterlife long ago. It is beyond Tenseiga's power. Only with the Jewel can he retain a portion of the humanity he once possessed."

"So you won't try? You'll do _nothing_?" she charged, a tear falling.

He tried to make her see reason, not wanting to give Naraku a future way into Inuyasha's pack by allowing the boy to live his false life, as that would put Kagome into great danger. Yes, he'd allowed the boy to live on past occasions. He'd found that he'd been unable to let the boy die before Rin's eyes. Though Rin was familiar with tragedy, Sesshomaru had wanted to spare her more sorrow, but he could no longer allow this weakness to be exploited.

"His continued existence brings only weakness to your party."

Didn't Kagome understand that he was trying to save her by allowing the boy to die, for good?

As if she understood, she whispered, "You want him to die…?"

"He's already—"

She interrupted him. "Stop! Fine. You want Kohaku to be dead, truly dead. Not an animated corpse."

"It is not what I want but what must be," he corrected.

"You're not human…" she whispered.

How she said it sounded like an insult, not as if she were commenting about his demon blood.

"Kagome—"

Just then, Sango screamed her brother's name. Both he and Kagome turned back towards the fighting, only to see Kohaku being held in the air. Inuyasha held the boy aloft with a hand in the boy's chest cavity. Blood was everywhere. A dark crimson that was nearly black.

In his bloodlust, Inuyasha laughed up at Kohaku. A second later, he violently flung the boy away like a ragdoll. The boy fell in a heap, a hole gapping in the center of his chest.

"How about a last family reunion before the boy dies?" Naraku unexpectedly asked at large. Before waiting for a reply, a boyish scream filled the air. It was Kohaku, and he was no longer being controlled by Naraku. Which meant the poor boy felt everything. His wounds were extensive, yet still he lived due to the jewel shard embedded in the back of his head.

It wasn't until that moment, when Kagome's full attention was on the tormented boy, that she gasped in realization. "He has Tetsusaiga. Sesshomaru! Kohaku has Tetsusaiga!"

She turned to him once more. "If we could just get the sword in Inuyasha's hand, then all of this will stop!"

Even as she spoke, it was far too late.

"Inuyasha, no! Stop it!" screamed Sango with anguish and fury. "I swear to all the gods out there that I will kill you if you do this!"

Kagome gasped at her friend's threat. The sound morphed into a muffled wail as Kohaku tried to crawl away from an out of control Inuyasha, his bloodied hand outreached towards his sister, as if beseeching her to help him.

"Sister…"

Even as he crawled away, leaving the battered Tetsusaiga behind, Inuyasha walked right passed it, too far gone to pick it up and regain his senses. As if growing bored with cat and mouse games, Inuyasha struck.

A foot crushed downwards, severing the boy's spinal cord. Then with a downwards arch of his arm, Inuyasha severed Kohaku's head from his body. Even as the women screamed, Sango's cries being the louder of the two, Miroku's harsh curse, and the insane laughter coming from Naraku, who was obviously enjoying the drama and carnage, Inuyasha reached down to pick up the severed head. He held it up by Kohaku's black hair. His manic laughter joined in with Naraku's.


	15. Self-Reliant

She screamed.

Kagome would have kept screaming her shock and grief had the sound of cruel laughter not penetrated the horror she'd just witnessed. The sound was piercing. Manic. Such merriment had no place where death stole life from the living. Yet looking way up into the sky towards that grating noise, she saw even through her tears the absolute joy that flooded Naraku's handsome face.

The face of an angel; one who had fallen from grace and become the devil himself. How such a vile soul could be encased in such beautiful flesh was unknown; unfair, for shouldn't evil outwardly show its twisted and corrupt nature? Instead, it hid behind perfection.

How she hated this creature. A darkness unfamiliar with her tender disposition assaulted her heart, filling her mind with retribution. She wanted him dead. For it was the only way to stop his cruelty. She could not do it alone. As usual, her first thought was Inuyasha. He would help her, as he always had. Her eyes feel on her half-breed friend and knew no aid would come from him. Looking at those eyes, they were not his. Molten honey was consumed by crimson—as were his hands.

The reminder brought her eyes back to the carnage. Inuyasha still held Kohaku's severed head. Before she could lower her eyes from the gruesome sight, her mindless friend threw the head at the cage. With perfect aim, it shot through the openings of his prison, only to roll across the ground, to stop just underneath where Naraku floated high in the sky, keeping a safe distance. The coward.

Still Naraku chuckled as if amused by Inuyasha's gift.

"Returning my servant to me?" the spider inquired. He pointed towards the caged couple held aloft in a similar enchanted cage that confined Inuyasha. "The boy was hers, the demon slayer's. I believe your gift was misplaced. Not to worry. Perhaps you could not reach its rightful target. Allow me to assist."

Kagome gasped in horror as Naraku picked up the discarded head with a tentacle and held it before Sango's tragic face. She couldn't watch! But she heard. Sango's scream of rage and sorrow. The death threats and promises of retribution flung at the chuckling hanyou.

Her second thought was to turn to Sesshomaru for aid since Inuyasha could not. However, she rejected that alternative. She shouldn't be as mad as she was towards Sesshomaru, but dammit, Kohaku was just a child. Even if the boy had to die, this gruesome slaughter had been unnecessary. His death should have been more humane, if such a concept was even possible. Worse, Kohaku's death will always haunt Inuyasha once he regained his senses and learned what he had unwittingly done. Today's events would be added guilt and shame upon his conscious, something he did not need. Kagome feared Sango would always harbor negative feelings towards him even though he had not been in his right mind. Inuyasha had been a victim of circumstance, yet he would carry much of the blame, regardless. Grief tended to lash out on anyone and everyone.

Sesshomaru had been cruel to disregard the emotional impact Kohoku's death would cause her friends. Or had the demon lord even cared?

She had to act. Now. While everyone was preoccupied. There was no one but her who could put an end to this madness. The cage was sealed with dark miko energy. Surely she could break the curse.

Without much thought or care, she flared her pure light. With an outward surge, her reiki charged the air. The backlash flung Sesshomaru from her person despite the arm that had encircled her. She meant him no harm, but he was in the way. There was no time to discuss strategy. Even as Inuyasha lashed out at the prison that caged him in mindless madness, Kagome charged forward. Ignoring her friend within, she held onto the wooden bars. There was no time for finesse, to try and gradually disintegrate the dark magic. Instead, she threw everything she had into her hands. With brute force, she shattered the curse, which splintered the wood. Shrapnel burst everywhere, embedding splinters in her tender flesh. With her face turned away, her eyes were safe from damage, with her hair helping to cushion her face and neck.

Dust surrounded her, making her cough with the effort to breathe. She dared not open her eyes and get them gritty with debris. Even without her sight, she felt the demonic energies around her and Inuyasha was coming—for her. Claws grabbed onto her, digging brutally into her forearm before she could react. Whatever her enraged hanyou had in mind—which probably would have been nothing good—there was an animalistic snarl. His hand fell away. Another arm wrapped around her from behind, and suddenly they were in the air.

Sesshomaru took her away to safety. When he landed, she kicked and flailed.

"Kagome, it is I—Sesshomaru. You have nothing to fear."

She glanced up at him wildly. "Please! We must get Tessaiga to Inuyasha." She knew he understood the sword's importance to containing Inuyasha's demonic blood, so without having to say anything further, that proud, silver head bowed in acknowledgement. This time, he leapt back towards the opening she'd created, a move that had cost her much of her energy.

The dust was clearing by now and Inuyasha was in the way. He stood just outside the opening, looking up at them with an evil half-smile. Before they landed, Inuyasha lunged. He didn't get a chance to make contact. Sesshomaru swung his free arm outwards and a green flash of light whipped towards Inuyasha, catching him in the face and upper chest. The acid whip flung him back, where he landed ungracefully. Their landing was much smoother.

"Get the sword," Sesshomaru instructed, leaving her as he stepped to meet Inuyasha's brash charge.

She nodded despite Sesshomaru not being able to see the movement. "Right." Running into the cage, she grabbed onto Tessaiga with a feeling of relief. Her mad dash for the weapon had been mindless. Only after it was safely in her arms did she see the blood. Slowly, her head turned. Kohoku's body lay mangled and headless. Standing so close to such carnage of a boy she'd grown to care for caused her to gag. Bile chocked her. She swallowed it back, where it burned in her throat and back into her belly, where it sloshed and rolled. Vomiting in truth was a real threat. She turned away with a dry sob.

She couldn't break down. Not now! Her friends needed her.

"Inuyasha," she breathed, taking a few stumbling steps towards the combating brothers.

Everything was a mess. Surely this day was nothing more than a nightmare. If this were a dream, it was far too real. Sango's screams still echoed in her ear. The sight of Inuyasha holding Kohoku's head in the air burned forever into her memory. The scent of blood invaded her nose with every breath she took. No, this was no bad dream. This was all too horrifyingly real. How were they to get passed this, she wondered in a daze?

"Kagome," he called to her, drawing the miko's dazed eyes to his face. He saw no recognition in that gaze. She was going into shock. "The sword. Bring Tessaiga to Inuyasha, quickly."

At the sound of his brother's name that lost look fell away. Brown eyes traveled to the ground near his feet where his half-brother lay.

"Oh my God, Inuyasha!" She ran to the boy, falling to her knees.

"He lives," Sesshomaru assured, watching her display of concern with some measure of envy. While she ran to the brat, she'd flung him away with her reiki. Had she ever shunned him before? The rejection stung. She'd put herself in danger for his brother. She'd flung him away for his brother. For the second time in his life, he coveted something his brother possessed. Instead of a ratted sword, it was a human, a woman. He had no time to contemplate why. They were still very much in danger.

Kagome wrapped Inuyasha's hands around the hilt of his sword, and swept his bangs from his face tenderly.

"To me, Kagome. It is not yet safe."

He held out his hand when she glazed his way. She hesitated, clearly wanting to stay beside Inuyasha.

"I…have to protect him."

"With my aid, now come." He willed her to come to him. After a long pause, she lifted her hand. Smoothly, he pulled her to her feet and brought her close to his side, where they then turned to confront their mutual enemy.

Naraku chuckled, red eyes gleaming. "Who else is to die today?"

"I am going to fucking kill you, Naraku!" railed Sango, who held onto the bars of her cage as if she could break free and throttle the spider youkai.

Unimpressed by her threat, Naraku tsked. "Surely you do not blame me for the death of your brother? I am the one who gave him life after you failed to keep him safe that fateful day, remember?"

"You're the one who murdered him in the first place!"

"Not this time," he reminded her almost gently. "Again, you failed to save him."

Sango screamed a wordless sound of fury.

"If you aimed all that hostility at Inuyasha, perhaps I'd let you free. Retribution towards your slain brother. My gift to you."

Sango opened her mouth to speak or yell. Whatever she had been about to utter, Miroku grabbed ahold of her and pulled her back. He held her in the cradle of his arms, and shot Naraku a heated glare.

"You will not divide us, Naraku. This whole farce was your creation. Kohaku's death lies solely upon you, not Inuyasha."

"A farce?" Naraku questioned? "Does this not seem real enough to you, monk? I assure you, the carnage is no lie."

"Silence your vile tongue," Miroku demanded.

"Or what? I assume there is a threat pending?" Naraku waited a moment. "No? Maybe you finally realize that you are in no position to be making threats." He turned to Sesshomaru in commiseration "Humans. Their cries are louder than their actions, wouldn't you say?"

Sesshomaru said nothing. Instead, he prepared to strike. His arm relaxed around Kagome, intending to release her, as he bent his knees to lunge at the man in the baboon suit; however, a dark energy came flying in their direction. Actually, it was aimed right for Kagome. Had he not sensed it just in time, he would have been airborne in a one way collision towards Naraku, leaving Kagome wide open for attack. Whether it was luck or bad timing on this new foe's part, he was able to tighten his hold on the girl and redirect his leap, taking them to safety.

"What was…" Kagome spoke softly, her head already turning in the same direction his had gone. The direction the attack had emanated from. Yards away stood a woman, bow at the ready with another arrow aimed for them.

"She's the one," Kagome murmured. "The one who had constructed Inuyasha's prison, and the one that still holds Miroku and Sango."

He'd already assumed as much. It was not likely that there would be two dark miko working for Naraku. Not impossible, but improbable.

"Why Sesshomaru," called Naraku. Sesshomaru kept his eyes on the dark haired woman rather than look towards Naraku. Instead, he kept his other senses open on the vermin, waiting for an attack to come from any side.

"I had not realized your affinity towards humankind has grown. Have you a change of heart to see value in such creatures as your father once had?" He chuckled. "You know how that ended for the great and terrible Dog General."

"Silence," Sesshomaru demanded. How dare this vermin speak thusly of _his_ father? He vowed to rip out Naraku's tongue before sending him to hell.

"Have I touched a nerve?" chortled Naraku. "If not yours, how about you, Kagome. May I touch one of yours?"

The woman beside him shuddered. He tightened his hand on her hip in silent support. What vile intentions Naraku intended more this day, he did not know, but he could sense the dread the pulled upon Kagome as if it were a tangible weight.

"What do you mean?" Kagome asked bravely as her spine stiffened in wordless defiance. "Haven't you done enough damage for one day?"

"I don't think you'll want me to wait for this," he told her. Out from the folds of his baboon attire, Naraku held out the kitsune.

"Shippo!"

Kagome's wail was that of a mother for her child. Sesshomaru's heart sank. After the events of the day, this new development did not bode well for his little miko. He intended to keep her safe. However, even though he could keep her physically from harm, her heart was another story. She'd already been harmed. He belatedly realized the error of judgement for not attempting to save the boy from his brother. He had no choice but to save the kitsune. To save them all, to save Kagome from more tears.


	16. Combat

She should have known. She should have demanded answers after finding Sango and Miroku captured by Naraku. Kaede had told her all three of her friends had gone after Kagura when the wind sorceress came to the village, claiming Kohaku was in danger. However, Shippo hadn't been with the captured. In the back recess of her mind, she'd hoped that he had gotten away. He was a trickster, a master escape artist. Worse, her attention had been drawn from thoughts of her kit after Inuyasha's capture, and the drama that had unfolded since.

She'd had no time to think about Shippo, and now the boy was in trouble. Kagome felt responsible. She was supposed to protect him. She would, she silently vowed, eying that precious bundle within Naraku's vile grasp longingly.

Tied and gagged, Shippo seemed unharmed from where she stood. She prayed there were no hidden injuries. Prayed stronger still that she could get to him in time.

"Naraku!" she cried. She wanted to curse, to wail again, to murder that which threatened her child. Perhaps not flesh of her flesh but she considered Shippo hers, and woe unto anyone who came between a mother and her child.

"Yes, little miko?"

Kagome gritted her teeth. "No more games. Give. Him. Back!"

Naraku lifted a hand to his chest as if she'd hurt his feelings. "Miko, surely you do me an injustice! I have every intention of returning the kit to your loving grasp." He smirked. "But for a price."

She stomped her foot. "Yes? Get on with it!"

"Such fire is in you, Kagome. Such passion," he murmured to her, loud enough to hear, his voice intimate. She did not like that tone coming from him. He repulsed her with sexual innuendos. "What would you do, what would you give, to have him returned to you?"

Impulsively, without really thinking, she cried, "Anything!"

"Anything? Surely not. What if I said his life for Inuyasha's? Kill one, you save the other."

Gasping, feeling foolish for her rash choice of words, she uttered, "You know I can't. I won't."

He smiled. "See? You would not do _anything_ for him."

Fear slithered down Kagome's back. Was he serious? Did Naraku truly expect her to make such a choice?! "You're a monster," she breathed, and because his hearing was better than a human's, he heard. He chuckled. He was always laughing, she thought with irritation. She wanted to prevent him from laughing ever again. But what could she do with poor Shippo in danger?

Naraku brought Shippo in close, and cuddled the kitsune to his chest, like a father would. The gesture both angered Kagome and filled her with trepidation. A long finger toyed with Shippo's neck. At first, she feared he taunted her. Wordlessly conveying how easily he could slit that fragile jugular under his sharp nail. She blinked, realizing there was something around the boy's neck. A collar?

"Do you like the accessory?" Naraku commented good-naturedly. Kagome wanted to scream. He was purposefully dragging out the moment. Torturing her with painful what-ifs. Fearing for the young's life. She remained silent, biting her tongue least she say something foolish that could get Shippo killed.

"No? Let me explain. That lovely woman over there," he nodded in the dark miko's direction; however, Kagome did not turn away from Shippo. "She's agreed to a little game I've contrived. You see, she despises you, miko. In fact, she hates every monk or priestess, as they've shunned her way of practice and want her dead."

"I have no such ill intent towards her," Kagome interrupted, wanting to make that fact perfectly clear in a vain hope that the dark haired woman would back down and leave them in peace.

"Even after her attempt at killing you?" Naraku asked mildly. "My, my, miko. Aren't you a generous soul. Does that same generosity extend towards me, I wonder?" Perhaps he saw the glare she shot him for he chuckled. "No, perhaps not." Again he tapped the black collar around Shippo's neck. "If you go against my wishes, I'll kill him. And before you think to interfere, Sesshomaru, kill this puppet and the dark magic in the boy's collar will sever his head from his body before you could even think of saving him."

So, the spider in the monkey suit was yet another puppet. The true Naraku was somewhere safe.

Kagome sobbed, holding a hand to her mouth in an attempt to choke back further sound. She swallowed thickly once, twice, before she was capable of speech. In a strangled voice, she asked, "And what is it you wish?"

Oh God! The image of Shippo's head tumbling from his little body was all too real after witnessing that very thing happen to Kohaku not so long ago. No! She could not bear it. Her heart would surely break from the loss.

"Please, don't hurt him," she begged, tears falling from her eyes, uncaring if she was thought weak for showing how much she cared for the boy. Everyone already knew anyway.

"Then take up arms."

She blinked. Had she heard wrong? "W-what?"

Naraku repeated himself, "Take up arms. Your opponent awaits." He pointed, and this time Kagome turned towards the woman. Her heart filled with dread. The dark miko was no weak opponent. Her energy was strong, polluted by darkness but deadly. She was no novice. Kagome was weakened after breaking the curse that caged Inuyasha. How strong was her opponent? Her only hope was that the woman was equally low on energy after the magic it took to construct duel cages.

In disbelief, she asked, "You want me to fight her?"

Naraku corrected her misconception. "No, my dear. _She_ wants you to fight her."

"Bullshit!" Kagome turned her ire on Naraku. "This is another sick game of yours!"

"Such language coming from one so pure," he chastised. "A game, yes, with simple rules. Fight. If you win, if you kill her, the boy lives."

So, not only did she have to fight, she had to murder her opponent. The prospect made her ill. Yes, she'd killed before. Demons, mostly. Purified them with her arrows. But to go into a fight with a human, knowing only one should survive the outcome repelled her. She did not wish to take a life if avoidable. The rules set in place took away any option of allowing leniency. Why should she even want the woman to live, anyway? She was a part of all this carnage. She had helped Naraku by subjugating her friends, and it had cost Kohaku his life. And yet, this still felt wrong.

Kagome knew she had little choice.

"Tick tock, priestess," Naraku told her.

Sesshomaru spoke to her, voice low for her ears alone. "Kagome, this is far too dangerous."

She murmured back to him. "What other choice do I have, Sesshomaru? He'll kill Shippo. You know he will."

His hand tightened on her hip. "Kagome—"

She lifted her hand to cover his and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I have to do this. Please, let me handle this."

"And what happens afterwards, should you rise the victor?"

She smiled, a small sad smile. "Do you think I'll lose?" She looked up at him, catching his eye. He did not respond. Not verbally, nor did he return her smile. Instead, he stared into her eyes. She could not read them, wondered if he tried to convey something to her that could not be spoken aloud.

She was the one to look away. "We'll worry about what comes after when this is finished." With determination stiffening her spine, she spoke to Naraku with resigned resolve. "Alright. For Shippo," she glanced briefly at her kit with all the love she felt before returning her gaze to Naraku, but with suppressed anger. "I'll play your game."

Mockingly, he applauded her bravado. "Marvelous!" he motioned her towards the nameless woman. "Whenever you are ready, little miko."

"Stop calling me that," she gripped underneath her breath. She hated the endearment coming from his taunting tongue.

She took but one step away from Sesshomaru when the arrow was released. She jolted in surprise as it stopped within inches of her face, having been caught with ease from her companion behind her. Wide eyed, she glanced towards the other woman. There was no answer there as to why such a dramatic flair was shown, other than to rattle her composure. If that were the case, it unfortunately worked. She could have died. Would have if not for Sesshomaru's protection. As unlikely as their new found truce was, Kagome was grateful he was there. His presence soothed her, gave her strength when her own would falter.

This time, there was no Inuyasha to save her. No Sesshomaru to step forward in her defense. As she walked towards the dark miko, she knew she was on her own. With every step she took, she strengthened her resolve even as she tried not to quiver in fear—of failure. Of dying.

 _Don't think like that!_ she chastised herself, giving herself a firm, inward shake. Shippo was relying upon her. She could not, would not, fail him. _Please, god, don't let me fail him,_ she prayed to any deity who would hear and heed her.

The dark miko notched another arrow, and Kagome did the same. They advanced on each other thusly. Kagome was the first to release. With a _thwank_ , she heard the dark miko do the same. Kagome's aim was true and headed straight for her target, but so was the arrow that raced for her life. With a twirl of her bow, charged with a small amount of reiki, a shield was formed, deflecting the missile.

Her own was also thwarted. Her arrow did not reach its intended mark, for the dark miko threw herself to the side. The arrow narrowly missed her. Instead, her kimono was ripped in its passage. Even as she flung herself sideways, another arrow was launched before she hit the ground. Her aim was true and struck flesh. The arrowhead wedged itself in her left side. It passed clean through her body, yet the long shaft remained embedded. She fell with a muffled cry. Her hand caught her as she rolled, not wanting to damage herself further.

Kagome refused to glance at the protruding shaft. She had to keep moving or die. Already she felt the impure energy zap at her pure light. She ran for cover, a pitiful mound of dirt barely considered a hill in the landscape. On her hands and knees, she breathed heavily. She was safe, for the moment. At least from another flying arrow.

She wanted to berate herself. How foolish she had been for not preparing for a second arrow. A priestess was schooled from the time they could stand to use a bow. She should have realized the skill the other most assuredly would possess and been more wary. The battle had barely begun and she had already been wounded. The extent of her injury was still unknown to her, other than the fact that she was sure no major organ or artery had been struck. In fact, even without sight, it felt as though the shaft was held by a sliver of flesh.

Still, the threat of blood loss was real, and now her limited energy was going towards preventing impurity from taking over. It wouldn't kill her, but until the shaft was removed, it would cause her pain. It would be the same if her own arrow had it struck the other woman. It could not kill human flesh. Her reiki would only cause the dark miko great suffering.

She had taken cover for no more than a few seconds when she realized she had no choice. The arrow had to be removed. It was taking too much of her strength to fight off the darkness. She was too weak to battle with her reiki against her foe and the arrow. But should she remove it, she could quite possibly bleed out.

Either way, her life was in jeopardy. Which then was the lesser of two evils?

 _Shippo, I will not fail you._


	17. Violence

Pain. Her side screamed even as she grit her teeth, determined not to give it voice. She'd be damned if she gave Naraku anymore amusement after his comment, "Best be quicker on your feet, little miko!" He dared mock her. What worried her next was Sesshomaru's reaction. Even as she ignored her friends' screams for her safety, the demon lord was silent. Would he step in and save her? Part of her hoped he would, because she didn't want to die. She wasn't from these desperate, brutal times. Wasn't bred for war like Sango was, or the others.

However, she was sure Naraku would kill her kit should Sesshomaru intervene. "I can handle this," she muttered with new found determination.

They were always saving her—her friends, Sesshomaru. Everyone. Sooner or later, she had to take up a more active role in saving herself. But this fight wasn't just about her own life. More importantly, another's fate rested on her ability to get them all out of this alive. She would not fail!

Grasping the arrow's shaft with both hands, Kagome took a deep, fortifying breath before breaking the feathered end off. No easy task. The wood was no twig despite its slim shape, and it was embedded awkwardly in her flesh.

No matter how she tried to remain quiet, a small cry of agony slipped past her lips, followed by a whimper when it finally snapped and she dropped the feathered end. She almost sobbed when she realized what next she had to do, considering how much agony she already suffered. Adding onto it made her eyes water. But she had no time. Her opponent may already be advancing. She was lucky Naraku, who could see her from his position at her back, did not call out her dilemma to the other woman.

Reaching behind her, she once again ignored how the shaft zapped her fingers with electrical currents of dark energy, trying to fight off her pure light, and wrenched it from her back. This time, she did scream, the sound much louder than before. The other half of the arrow fell from her bloodied fingers as she curled around her injury. Blindly, she stuffed dirt into the wound in an effort to staunch the flow of blood. Later, she'd worry about infection. Blood loss was her enemy currently. One battle at a time.

Her mind was nothing but a blaze of agony, and yet, as if subconscious self-preservation kicked in, Kagome knew the dark miko was there. Almost above her on the little hill she hid behind. In her effort to get the arrow out, she had tried to save what little power she had left. And yet, she feared she was close to spent. How foolish she had been when she had freed Inuyasha! No war was won when one gave everything so carelessly. Would she pay the price with her life?

"No!" she cried, lifting her hand just in time to see the woman stand before her, tall and unafraid, confidently holding another arrow, notched and ready, aimed at her face. With a surge of desperation, her reiki exploded out of her outstretched hand. The blast caught the other woman in the chest, flinging her back.

Her hold on the notched arrow released but not by choice. Aim completely off by Kagome's attack, the arrow flew, embedding into the ground feet away. Self-preservation wrenched her too her feet and over the hill. Her foe was on her back, already lifting herself on her elbows, ready to rise. Her bow and quiver were scattered upon the ground. Acting swiftly, Kagome jumped her. Noticing her wild advance, the woman fell to her back. Kagome caught a flash of silver. Even as a small knife went for her belly, Kagome changed her angle of decent. Slamming a knee into the woman's belly, Kagome's weight took the air out of the dark miko in a loud, pain filled gasp.

Eyes wide, the dark miko fell back. Her knife barely grazed Kagome, drawing a thin line across her abdomen. Belatedly, Kagome realized she had almost been gutted like a fish. A horrendous thought if she was dumb enough to dwell on the fact. Thankfully, adrenaline still coursed through her veins, focusing her.

Grabbing the fallen blade, she held it to the fallen woman's throat, stilling any would be counter attack. "Don't" she demanded calmly, breathing heavily. She didn't want to kill her, but Kagome would. It was her life or the dark miko. Kagome knew which choice she would make. Human instinct of survival raged strongly in her breast.

They stared at each other.

Instead of anger or fear, the woman looked up at her calmly, despite the pain that glazed her eyes. She was beautiful, or would have been had she not looked wane. Her cheek bones were too prominent, her eyes too large. The body beneath her felt small; fragile. Starvation? Sickness? Kagome didn't know. The dark circles under those brown eyes spoke of fatigue.

Without thinking, Kagome asked, "What's your name?" No answer was forthcoming. Persistent, she said, "I need to know who you are and why you're doing this. It's madness. Why are you working with Naraku? Have you any idea what he's done? The cruelty he's caused to human and youkai alike?"

After a few more seconds of heavy breathing on both their parts, an answer whispered up to her. "Junko."

Obedient. Pure. Such a simple name. Antitheses to her true nature, thought Kagome. She waited for another heartbeat, for more information to be imparted; however, there was nothing. Only silence. Kagome opened her mouth to speak, but another spoke first.

"What are you waiting for, little miko?" Kagome turned to Naraku, who hovered near where she restrained Junko. In her weakened state, she had not sensed his approach. She quickly glanced back at Junko, fearing her unwitting lack of attention would encourage her to lash out, and Kagome was unsure if she could keep the dominant position. Blood loss and pain were taking their toll. Adrenaline calming when she needed it most.

"You appear to be the victor," he continued. "However, even a fallen foe is capable of rising again, to take the upper hand," he cautioned, as if she were his student.

He was right, which caused a small nagging suspicion. Why wasn't Junko putting up more of a fight? Was the woman that injured and out of strength? She appeared weak physically, due to lack of nutrition or illness, and the dark magic required to capture her friends was no simple spell. Yet shouldn't Junko be tense, anxious with a blade at her throat? Did she not think Kagome capable of murder or did she not fear death? But who would welcome death?

Kagome's mind wanted to further analyze the situation. The fight had been short, amateurish. Before her racing thoughts could contemplate the situation further, Naraku drew her attention back to himself.

"Finish it."

She barely gifted him with a glance. She was too busy keeping a wary eye on the silent Junko. "You're ruthless." Contempt gave her voice hushed force.

"As you should be." He tsked her. "Unless the boy's life means little to you."

At the threat, Kagome's breath caught. Her hesitation did not seem to anger the spider or cause him to grow impatient. In fact, the tone of his voice was soothing. "You've killed before."

Her voice was strained as she answered, "Not like this."

He questioned her. "How is it different?"

Anger flooded her. "You know perfectly well!"

"Tell me," he softly commanded.

She hated the quality of his tone. It was too gentle. It made her sick given the content of their conversation. "It's…cold blooded."

"Ruthless."

She flinched.

"You are too soft for this world, little one."

The truth of his words made her eyes sting. She hated violence. Yet duty compelled her to return to this era. To fight. Actually, if she were honest, it was love that continued to bring her back. To face poverty, filth, blood, and death. She came back for Inuyasha. She suffered for that choice, a choice she made willingly each time she jumped through the well. Didn't that also imply this moment had been made willingly, given her choices led to this, since she understood there were countless, unfathomable dangers that awaited her here? It didn't matter what _would_ happen as the future unfolded, shaped by the choices she had made thus far, only that it could.

Crouched upon the ground, bleeding out, with the life of another in her hands, as well as the threat of Shippo's death, it was all on her. It was no one else's fault. She'd brought it upon herself.

Naraku did not know of her true origins. Perhaps he spoke that she should be the one to die. Too weak to live. In her weakened state, almost dazed now, she accidently spoke out loud, "You think I'm too weak to live?"

"Are you, Kagome?"

Now she stared into his eyes, as if compelled.

"I hate you," she breathed, but not in anger. There was no feeling behind the admission. Merely fact.

"Live," he commanded her and nodded to Junko, who remained unmoving and quiet. "Save yourself. She could still kill you for your hesitation."

Kagome looked down. Not into those calm eyes but at that delicate throat. Imagined slitting it wide with a red smile. A shiver snaked down her spine.

Voiced filled with disappointment, he said, "If not for yourself, then for your kit."

Just then, Shippo cried out. Yanking her gaze upwards, far above Naraku, Shippo was held aloft by a grotesque tentacle. The end of which was digging into the boy's shoulder. Blood soaked his garments. She cried out at the sight, her heart returning to a fast clip.

Gentleness gone, Naraku stared at her dispassionately. "Finish it. Unless you want him to die."

This whole thing made absolutely no sense to Kagome, but all rational thought fled at the sight of Shippo bleeding. To save the boy she thought of as a son, her hand moved. Cutting downwards and yanking to the side, she slit Junko's throat with desperation rather than skill.

It had not been deep enough. Kagome watched aghast as Junko fought desperately to breathe. There was a terrible gurgling rattle as her lungs continued to fill with air. The wet sound was sickening. Horrified at the suffering she had caused instead of a swift death, Kagome stabbed that throat again and again, until it was nothing but a meaty wound. She was in shock when she stopped, blood everywhere, even on her face.

She gasped for breath as if she'd just ran a mile. Her heartbeat thundered in her ear like a roaring wave. All she saw was that ruined throat, the wide eyes that stared up at her in agony. Those eyes were dead, wide eyed, as if shocked by her gruesome death.

Stomach heaving in warning, Kagome fell from her victim and threw up beside the body. Her side screamed in protest at the violence of her sickness. Almost passing out, Kagome tried to wipe the spittle from her lip with a shaky hand. Instead of cleaning her face, she smeared blood, tasting it.

 _Oh God… What…have I done?_ she wondered, almost sobbing as anguish and self-pity threatened to swamp her.

His human heart beat once within his chest. Strong. Then a second beat; a third. Lifting a hand to his chest at the disconcerting sensation, shock rather than pain stole his breath. Knelling there just above her bent form, watching her distress moved him in ways that defied logic. The demon he had become, the darkness that filled him to overflowing should have prevented any conception of human warmth, yet there it was, beating, breathing inside him.

Unconsciously, he reached for her.

 _Kikyo… I…_

"What?" Big, brown eyes turned to meet his own. Baffled, pain glazed, she regarded him. "I'm not—I'm not Kikyo."

Blinking in surprise, Naraku stared down at Inuyasha's wench. Kagome, not Kikyo. Reincarnated, this girl was not the one his human heart longed for. And yet, she would do. Onigumo would take what he could get, so deep his obsessive feelings were towards the deceased priestess—though she did walk this earth. At least, not in truth. A mere clay imitation. One woman made into two. Anger suffused him. The demon despised the weakness he could not shake from his human half. Every step they took was shadowed by that all-consuming need. A desire that was stronger than even the demon he was could control, no matter the strength and power that he continued to gain.

The part of him that was Naraku reviled in her torment. The human within wanted to embrace the distraught girl, not in regret, but because the need to gather Kikyo close was overpowering.

 _No! Not Kikyo. This girl is not Kikyo,_ he fought inwardly.

He loved the blood that painted her face. He wanted to kiss the crimson stain from her lips. Naraku had become so adept at suppressing his human weakness that Onigumo's desire for this miko slammed into him out of nowhere. He almost touched her, almost cupped her cheek. Instead, he wrenched his arm back, hiding it beneath his furs. Nails dug into his palms as he forced control over his human longing.

Filled with anger at himself, he impaled the fox kit, digging a tentacle through his heart and out his back to prove that he cared not at all for the woman's suffering. He murdered the kit and threw the carcass at the girl. Like a rag doll, the body bounced before lying still. He watched her, unfeeling as she reached for the boy. He suppressed any human emotion while Kagome held the body to her breast.

He laughed when she screamed.

He felt no satisfaction, merely acted for his audience least any noticed his longing for the girl. A weakness he could not allow to be exploited. He wished her dead but knew he could not bring himself to give the death blow. Not know. Maybe not ever.

Distracted by his own anger at himself, he was too slow to notice the light emanated from the girl. With another scream, more shrill and high pitched than before, filled with her fury and pain, Kagome's reiki went off like an explosion.


	18. Aftermath

Humans.

Such fragile creatures.

Sesshomaru sat before the flames, watching how they flickered with flashes of orange and red. Night had settled, darkness surrounding the broken group of Inuyasha's pack. When Kagome had released her pure light, its deadly force sought out any demonic presence in its wake. He'd witnessed Naraku's puppet disintegrate before racing out of danger. He was confident that Kagome's reiki would not have ended his existence, his bloodline and power enough to withstand even such a mighty assault, but the damage would have been extensive.

There had also been the necessity of saving his unconscious half-brother. Even with their father's blood running through Inuyasha's veins, the human taint diluted its potency. The half-breed most likely would have died. An occurrence Sesshomaru could not allow. Kagome had lost enough this day. To combine the added burden of unwittingly killing Inuyasha, Sesshomaru was uncertain she would recover mentally.

How frail she was and not just physically. She cared far too much. Invested too much of herself in others. Despite her weakness, he was certain she would prevail and overcome the day's travesty. He would ensure she did. In this, he would redeem himself in her eyes.

For so long, he had viewed himself better than most, especially humans. Until one day, not so very long ago, _this_ girl opened his eyes to his hypocrisy. Shame still swamped him, even in the recesses of his mind. How was he to rise above the fake he had been? He was sure the key lied within Kagome. She was the one to shake him from his previous misconceptions. She was the one to lead him to redeeming his honor.

He'd already vowed to show her her own self-worth earlier this morning, after witnessing her tears when Inuyasha had once again caused her pain. Now, he added onto that promise. To help her through this troubling ordeal so that she would not fall into the depths of despair without a way of climbing free and, most important of all, to tutor her in the art of combat. He could do very little in the way of helping her advance in her holy powers; however, she already had the basics. With that knowledge, she could learn to fight better.

Having been witness to her fight with the dark miko, her skill level was amateurish at best. It baffled him how she had survived past maturity, considering her calling was not an easy one, for miko had to battle demons and evil spirits. Healing the sick and easing the dying was only half their duties as miko. Even the monk that travelled with Inuyasha's ragtag group appeared skilled in battle, strong in his capabilities as a holy man. Yet this girl with the abnormal behavior and mannerisms was nothing more than a novice.

He was sure the elderly miko in Inuyasha's village was Kagome's tutor. Was the elder incapable of providing schooling past the art of healing? Kagome was surrounded by able pack mates. Any one of them could have taken the initiative to advance her skills. Did they not? They must not have. It would appear the girl had had very little educational influence to be so far behind. It was foolhardy to rely on others for her sole protection, as today had proven.

Kagome had immense potential. He would take it upon himself to help her realize the full measure of her capabilities. While they hunted Naraku, he would teach her basic combat. Later in the future, he knew not when, Sesshomaru would obtain a tutor to help progress in her holy energies, since the elderly miko, Kaede, seemed to be lacking that area, most likely due to her advanced age. Sesshomaru almost snorted at that. Advanced age. A mere half a century made up most of a ningen's life.

Amusement withered when he glanced down at the small bundle in his arms. Kagome was human. She was not long for this world, not like one such as he, who could live centuries.

The fire flickered, logs collapsed, sparks flying into the air. Sesshomaru blinked. Eyes downcast, the orange glow didn't reach the young woman who rested against him. The night was warm and he'd shed his armor, offering his body heat to keep Kagome warm. He did not wish to let her go, nor for the fire's light to disturb her rest. She needed it. So he sat upon the ground, his back against a boulder. The rock's surface was hard and uncomfortable, but the woman before him was soft.

Legs curled, he held her sideways upon his lap, allowing the girl to use his chest as a pillow. His armor, fur pelt, and swords were beside him within reach. Kagome no longer wore her tattered and stained clothes. The wound hidden but bandaged. He had wanted to tend to her, but the demon slayer took up the task, wishing to preserve Kagome's modesty from male eyes.

He'd conceded the demon slayer's point, inwardly unhappy. The miko was then dressed in _pajamas_. Apparently, a different sort of sleeping yukata. They were nothing more than thin pants and top that had thin straps at the shoulders. It was…indecent, given the fact Kagome's nipples could be seen indenting the fabric.

What strange clothes, he had again marveled, having never seen the like before.

After saving Inuyasha from the blast, Sesshomaru had freed the humans from their prison, before kneeling at Kagome's side. Determining the damages swiftly, he noted that the arrow had barely found its mark. Kagome had been hit on her left side, the arrow going clean through. He'd seen her remarkable fortitude and strength when breaking off the feathered end and pulling the arrow head from her back. He could tell by the position of the wound that only a sliver of flesh had held it in place. The girl had been resourceful, using dirt to slow down the bleeding.

Delicate things that her species were, his admiration vanished with renewed concern. Kagome could so easily die of infection.

Before taking Kagome away from the battlefield, he'd glanced around, hoping to find what he knew would no longer be there. Shippo was gone, his body purified by Kagome's reiki. He had vowed to protect her by protecting the ones she loved after his misjudgment upon doing nothing for Kohaku. He had failed. There was no longer even a body to resurrect with Tenseiga. He had not been too worried upon the kitsune's death, not until after Kagome's blast.

What to tell her when she woke? The truth, yes. It would crush her knowing her rash reaction to the death of her child caused even his aid to be of no use. She would blame herself, he knew. Hours after taking the broken pack from Naraku's playing grounds, he still did not know the right course of action to aid her. How did one mend a broken heart? A fractured psyche?

A lowering thought to realize just how inept he was when she would need him the most.

He paused after that thought. No, she didn't need _him_. A frown pulled at his lips. Sesshomaru knew it was Inuyasha she would instinctively turn to. He'd only today insinuated himself into her pack. He had not established any intimate bond for her to turn to him for her needs. Did he want her to?

A second later, he knew. As he turned to her for guidance towards redemption, he desired for Kagome to turn to him in her time of need. Would she when he knew how eager Inuyasha was to take her into his arms and comfort her? When the boy had finally awoken, he'd demanded answers. The monk had informed Inuyasha of the whole sordid tale concerning his part in Kohaku's death, suffered the condemnation in Sango's eyes despite her silence, and the death match with Kagome and the dark miko. To then hear the death of Shippo after everything else, tears had glazed Inuyasha's eyes.

No one saw them. The boy would not allow such a thing, but Sesshomaru had smelt the salt of his tears. Regaining control over himself, Inuyasha had demanded he hand over Kagome. Sesshomaru had refused. For once, the boy had not fought him. Eyes too shadowed by the knowledge of his actions and inability to protect his pack, he'd left. Not far. Sesshomaru could sense Inuyasha high up in the trees several yards away. Far enough to grieve in silence yet close enough to protect his friends.

The same annoyance he felt towards Inuyasha had not changed. He still felt the boy was inferior. His father had been a great and powerful force. To see it so diminished in half-human flesh was an insult to the memory he held of his father.

 _Who's the hypocrite, now?_

Teeth gritted as those fateful words echoed anew inside his mind. Kagome had been correct. He hated Inuyasha unjustly. _He_ was the one who dishonored their late father with his self-righteousness.

 _Hypocrite…hypocrite…_

His arms tightened around Kagome. He should release her, return her to Inuyasha, for surely he was worthier than a wretch like him to be near one so pure. And yet, he could not. To discard her was to let go of the man he strove to be. A better one.

 _I cannot let you go,_ he inwardly told her. He placed his cheek on the top of her head, eyes closed. He held her. Breathed in her scent. The surprisingly pleasing smell of her was tainted by blood and ointments. He was careful not to press on her wound as he cuddled her closer still. "Not yet," he breathed into her hair.

The humans were long since asleep. No eyes watched his unguarded moment with Kagome. A flash of remembrance crossed his mind. He'd witnessed weakness in Naraku right before he'd murdered the kit. Naraku, too, longed for this woman. Kikyo, he'd called Kagome. He'd reached out for her.

Fierce protectiveness boiled his blood. Lips curled in a wordless snarl. Naraku would not have her. Whatever his intentions, Sesshomaru would keep her safe. He knew the tale that intertwined Inuyasha, Kikyo, and Naraku. Kagome, being Kikyo's reincarnation, was caught in the middle of events not of her making.

 _I'm no—I'm not Kikyo._

Kagome's heartfelt words. How many times did she have to utter such a phrase? How many times did she have to remind others of her own identity? To be forever mistaken for another… to be thought of as the lesser version.

To her unconscious ear, he murmured to her, as he had done that morning, "It is you I see, Kagome. No other."


	19. Feverish

She was feverish.

Inuyasha held his precious burden as he ran, doing his utmost not to jostle her. Four days had passed since their clash with Naraku. That following day, it had been decided that they would return to Kaede's village, considering Kagome was in no shape to travel, and in fact needed medical attention. With the help of Kagome's strange medicine and Kaede's wise knowledge in the art of healing, Inuyasha had been sure she would recover swiftly despite how slow humans healed.

That first day after waking in his despised brother's arms, Kagome had remained mute, silently crying. There had been a defeated sadness about her. He knew why.

Shippo was gone.

The only time she'd spoken was when she'd begged his brother if he could bring her kit back to life with Tenseiga. Inuyasha had nearly cried himself at her desperate plea, only to see agony glaze her eyes when Sesshomaru had quietly informed her of how she'd purified the fox kit's body, so there had been nothing to revive. No matter how many times any of them had told her it had been an accident, she remained inconsolable. Her tears could have filled an ocean.

While traveling towards Kaede's village, Inuyasha had wanted to demand to be the one to carry Kagome, but after witnessing her sorrow, he couldn't bring himself to battle over something so petty. Reluctantly, he'd kept his silence, following from the rear because Sango couldn't stand the sight of him. How could he blame her after what he had done? He was not blameless, no matter how Miroku tried to console him to the contrary.

He'd lost Tessaiga.

He'd fallen into Naraku's trap.

He'd been arrogant. So self-confident.

In the end, he'd fallen into bloodlust after failing to dispatch the shadow demon. He'd had his ass kicked, had known he was going to die. His weakness brought out the monster inside himself, resulting in victory over the shadow, but also death of an innocent: Kohaku.

Would Sango ever forgive him?

More importantly, could he ever forgive himself?

It had not taken long to arrive at Kaede's, for the battle had taken place but a couple hours away. Miroku filled the wise woman in on recent events upon their arrival. The elderly woman had merely shaken her head with sorrow lining her already aged face, before caring for Kagome. However, complications arose swiftly. Kagome developed a fever as her wound become inflamed and infected. No matter what was done, the futuristic girl continued to worsen. If things did not change soon, Kagome could die.

The possibility could not be borne!

Making up his mind on the fourth morning, Inuyasha informed Kaede he was taking Kagome home in hopes the healers there could save her.

Everyone was there to hear his proclamation. Sango was bathing Kagome's brow despite its ineffectiveness to bring down her fever thus far, while Miroku sat in silence, sipping tea, his expression brooding. He was the only one capable of calming Sango's violate emotions toward Inuyasha when she was not occupied caring for Kagome. The first couple of days, Sango was elsewhere, unable to be near him, but Kagome's worsening condition had brought the slayer back, helping Kaede look after her friend. Even Sesshomaru was there, saying nothing, yet those amber eyes so like his own shifted to clash with his own after his declaration of moving Kagome. There was no detectible emotion in that stare, and Inuyasha resented his brother's presence. Sesshomaru's strange interest in Kagome angered him. Worse, Inuyasha was _jealous_ of his brother.

What exactly was Sesshomaru's interest in Kagome, he didn't know, and the demon lord refused to answer a direct question since their return. Inuyasha would have resorted to violence if not for Miroku reminding him that undue stress was not good for Kagome, who was in and out of consciousness. When she was awake, she ignored everyone. Even him. God that hurt. Closing herself off from _him_ , refusing to share her grief. If only he could hold her. However, there was never any privacy to share such an intimate moment with her, further aggravating him.

Despite Sango having mostly ignored his presence up to this point, his declaration eased some of the hardness from her dark brown eyes, as she murmured her agreement. Worry for Kagome momentarily muting her grief and hatred.

Sesshomaru had wanted to go with, as _added protection_. Inuyasha had stiffened at the insult. Unable to say anything to the contrary, he'd glared at the other male before telling him to "piss off". Before a fight could ensure, Miroku—ever the peace keeper, which was really starting to grate on Inuyasha's nerves—explained to Sesshomaru that he was taking Kagome to better healers. However, neither Miroku nor any of the rest of them explained to the demon lord that Kagome lived in the future, travelling between eras through an old well.

Stubbornly, Sesshomaru insisted on following Inuyasha. With a flippant shrug, Inuyasha interrupted Miroku's stumbling attempts to stop the demon lord without revealing Kagome's origins by telling his _brother_ , "Whatever, do what you want."

Why? With a smirk that didn't last long under the circumstances, he knew Sesshomaru would be unable to follow as soon as he jumped into the well.

Speaking of which, the Bone Eater's Well came into view. Satisfied smirk long gone, the unrelenting need to get Kagome medical attention quickened his steps. With a flawless leap, he jumped over and into the well. As a flash of blue engulfed him and a sleeping Kagome, he heard his name being shouted by the one left behind.

As his foot touched ground, everything changed. Not the well's bottom interior, but the scents and sounds of Kagome's era filtered through the enclosed shrine surrounding the well house. Unease settled across his shoulders as he waited, almost fearing Sesshomaru would somehow be granted passage considering they shared blood ties, but after a minute of waiting and no one appearing, Inuyasha got down to business and jumped. Another leap up the short stairs brought him to the shrine doors. Too impatient, he refused to take the time to slide the door shut behind him. Hurrying towards the impressive house that stood erect where only trees grew on his side of the well, Inuyasha slammed the door open and shouted for aid to the shock of Kagome's family.

"I'm sorry, Inuyasha, but the hospital staff insists. Hospital policy," Mrs. Higurashi reported sadly, though she offered him a kindly smile.

After rushing Kagome into her futuristic home, her family had ran to her side, crowding him as Kagome was held protectively in his arms. His ears had flattened to his skull at the loud, shrill tones of Kagome's grandfather and younger brother, who were demanding to know what was wrong. Inuyasha couldn't get a word in, the elder and younger males too distraught to quiet down enough to listen.

Inuyasha sucked in a breath, determined to yell at the two that now wasn't the time, because Kagome needed a healer fast, when Mrs. Higurashi's raised voice silenced them all. Though her eyes were filled with deep worry, the older woman looked from her daughter to Inuyasha before asking quietly, "She needs a doctor, doesn't she?"

Trying not to cringe in guilt under that direct stare, Inuyasha gave the affirmative. "Answers can wait for later," Mrs. Higurashi had said, moving across the kitchen to the wall. She picked up a rectangular object with a long tail attached to the bottom. "But first, Kagome needs a doctor. I'll call an ambulance."

Inwardly, he'd breathed a sigh of relief that Kagome's mom was capable of calm action, that Kagome would soon get the help she so desperately needed, and because, cowardly, it allotted him more time against informing this kind family that Kagome's dire condition was his fault.

They'd spent hours at the hospital, or so this large, too loud building was called. It smelled terribly. His sensitive ears picking up conversations he couldn't begin to understand, along with the moans and cries of patients. Inuyasha hated it here, where his senses were constantly bombarded; however, he refused to leave. Not even when Kagome's grandfather left a couple hours after Kagome's admittance, considering he was too old to comfortably sit at his granddaughter's hospital bed, and Sota had gone to help the elderly man return home safely.

Silently, Inuyasha had sat with Mrs. Higurashi in the room given to Kagome. Once the doctor had looked over his patient after she'd been brought in through the emergency entrance, he'd had a nurse give Kagome an IV, had her wound cleaned, and medication administered. A nurse came in to check on her hourly. During a period where the family had been alone with Kagome, the medical staff busily working with other patients, Sota had been the one to once again ask what had happened to his sister.

Kagome slept through it all, as he confessed his sins. If he thought this loving family would blame him, rightfully despising him as Sango now loathed him, he was wrong, for they did the opposite. Comforting him. Parroting Miroku's previous support and assurances. Inuyasha had had to look away, grateful yet feeling even more ashamed. He felt worse rather than better because their unconditional acceptance was more than what he thought he deserved, yet he selfishly was glad they hated him not.

And now the hospital staff was asking him to leave. Kagome's mother was allowed to remain since Kagome was a minor—whatever that meant. What Inuyasha did realize, however, was that _he_ was expected to leave. Swallowing the angry rebuttal, Inuyasha docilely followed Mrs. Higurashi out of the building, because she felt she could not stay either while her son and father waited worriedly at home.

They rode the subway home, something Inuyasha usually tried to avoid while on this side of the well. The sounds and smells were bad enough; however, it was the press of humanity trapped in these moving cages that truly bothered him. They were too close, bumping into him, or resting against his back. He wanted to shove and push them away but could not even if he wanted to, the space was that compacted. Besides, he didn't want to leave Kagome's mom to the horde, protecting her on the trip back to the shrine—the Higurashi home.

A worthy sacrifice, he thought even as he glared at the human male who coughed near his face, spittle grazing his cheek. With a muted curse, Inuyasha wiped his face and tried to ignore the humans. Little did they know a demon lurked in their midst. The thought of baring his fangs in a snarl, scaring those near, put him in a slightly better mood, until Mrs. Higurashi was jostled roughly and pushed against him. Like a protective mother hen, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave a death glare at everyone near.

The trip through Tokyo seemed to drag on for so long that when they finally arrived at the long steps leading up to the Higurashi Shrine, Inuyasha turned to Mrs. Higurashi. "Would you like me to carry you? You seem tired," he offered, for the stairs were long and hard on a human, even though in shape.

With a smile, she nodded. "Thank you, Inuyasha. You are so kind."

Inuyasha felt his cheeks heat with pleasure and embarrassment at the assessment of his character, his thoughts of questioning his self-worth momentarily forgotten under such a warm, motherly gaze. Gently, he lifted her into his arms rather than suggesting she climb onto his back as Kagome usually would. A few leaps and bounds brought them to the top of the impressively long stairs, and one extra leap to the front door, where he deposited the slender woman.

"Thank you again, Inuyasha. Come inside," she encouraged, opening the door. "You must be hungry."

The answering growl of his stomach confirmed her words, causing him to blush anew at her twinkling laugh. How she could be so relaxed while his stomach was in knots about Kagome being left alone he could not fathom, but he guessed she hid her worry well. He'd seen enough of her worried eyes as she stayed beside her daughter's bedside to know she cared deeply.

Guilt assaulted him anew.

"I'm not hungry," he murmured, not bothering to take the bandana off his dog ears that hid his demonic nature from the human's in Kagome's time, for he was going out again—soon. He didn't mention his plans, however.

"You should eat something," she encouraged, leading the way through the large home, passing Kagome's grandfather, who was reading a book in the living room. Inuyasha heard footsteps upstairs and figured Sota was upstairs in his room.

Kagome's grandfather hailed them but continued with his reading. Mrs. Higurashi had already called home before they left the hospital, updating them on Kagome's condition and their plans on returning to the house, so there were no anxious bodies stampeding once they arrived home, demanding for news they already had.

Kagome had woken up a few times throughout the day. The fever made her tired, her body trying to get as much rest from the infection attacking her nervous system as it could, while the medication given through her IV added to her grogginess. The doctors had asked how she'd become so injured, and Mrs. Higurashi had said it had been a terrible accident during archery practice. The doctor took the answer at face value, as the wound had obviously been caused by an arrow, but he wasn't a cop always on the lookout for foul play or asking too many questions that lead up to the injury.

Inuyasha had been grateful to be included at Kagome's bedside vigil, because apparently Mrs. Higurashi had the power to prevent his access to being by Kagome. He did not understand the rules of this century, let alone hospital protocols and minor/guardian rights. He didn't even try. This era was by far more confusing than his own. He did not like it here, yet his typical impatience to return to his time with Kagome was absent. This time, he wanted to be here. Kagome needed to be here.

 _Please don't die,_ he'd silently begged while holding her frail hand as she slept.

The sadness in her eyes killed him every time she woke. She was thinking about Shippo, he knew. Was she also thinking about him and how he'd brought Kohaku's imitation of life to an end? He constantly feared her thoughts around the situation. Did she blame him as he blamed himself? Ultimately, he felt Shippo's death to be his fault, too.

If she saw his trepidation, Kagome did not say. Even now, she was mostly silent and her mother didn't try to force her daughter to talk. As Kagome slept, Mrs. Higurashi had confided in him that she understood Kagome's silence, because he'd told her about Shippo's passing, just not how. She said Kagome had felt like a mother towards Shippo. A mother's loss was soul crushing. Understanding the severity of Kagome's feelings, or trying to, Inuyasha had felt ten times worse knowing he had been a huge part of why Kagome lost her child. Worse, he hadn't even realized Kagome felt that close to the kit, having always thought the entire gang were friends. Losing a close friend was one thing. Losing a child… His stomach cramped, so strong were his emotions.

And that was the root of Kagome's melancholy, why she was so silent and weepy. She'd lost her child in her fit of rage, purifying all hope of bringing him back. Instead of blaming him as she should have been, she took the responsibility upon herself. He kept this knowledge from her mother. He wasn't exactly sure why, but he felt something like this could only be told by Kagome.

She'd been sleeping when they'd left. He hoped to be there before she woke. With that thought in mind, he accompanied Mrs. Higurashi into the kitchen and docilely allowed her to prepare him a simple meal at her insistence. The whole process was done in silence, until Sota came in, wanting to talk to his mother, needing reassurance that his sister would be ok. The kid even tried talking to him, even laying a small hand on his shoulder.

He did not deserve this acceptance and forgiveness, yet he soaked it up as a balm to his wounded soul.

Soon, the kid left, and Inuyasha was given his bowl of rice and stew. While he choked down the offering, not wishing to be rude, Mrs. Higurashi sipped tea.

Inuyasha stood, having eaten everything in his bowl in record time, ignoring how rude his haste may appear.

"Would you like more?" Mrs. Higurashi kindly asked him.

Gruffly, he replied, "No. It was good. Thanks."

Feeling awkward and impatient to get back to Kagome, he said his farewells.

"Are you returning to your era?"

Inuyasha hesitated.

Long enough for Mrs. Higurashi to understand and smile. Reassuringly, she murmured, "Go to her. I'll be there in the morning to see how she's doing."

He gruffly thanked her and turned on his heel. With swift steps, he left the house, leaping down the impressive stairs to the street below. Inuyasha didn't even bother using a bus or the subway. He knew where he was going and leapt over buildings, racing faster than those loud, manmade contraptions.

In a relatively short period of time, he was back at the hospital. He located Kagome's room from the outside by scent. He'd purposefully left her window open a crack so he could more easily find her without having to go inside and get caught.

With a graceful jump, he opened Kagome's window wider with one hand. And gripped the window's edge with the other. One smooth turn of his hips had his feet through the opening and on the cold floor inside. No one was in the room with his friend. He hadn't been sure, not able to scent the air as he normally would. The sensory overload was too much for him, a weakness he despised and kept silent about. Would it be the same had he been a full demon or was his hanyou state a blessing, because if his senses where this affected now, how much worse would it be for a full demon like Sesshomaru?

For a second, he smirked at the thought of his older brother's reaction. Maybe the bastard would even faint like a weakling by the smell, something he himself had done several times but refused to acknowledge in his gloating fantasy, where he stood unaffected over Sesshomaru's comatose body.

Not a second later, thoughts of his brother stirred jealousy and possessive feelings.

Quietly, he moved towards the door, checking to make sure no one was moving in this direction. Shutting the door with a soft click, he decided to use the window to escape should anyone come in. He just had to remember to keep it open a crack to be able to come back in smoothly. Getting caught was not an option.

Regardless of the danger of being caught with Kagome, or worse, by someone catching his demonic feats of agility, Inuyasha sat beside the girl he loved. As he held her hand, he knew he loved Kagome. At first, it had been because she was Kikyo's reincarnation. She looked hauntingly like his past love, yet their personalities were like day and night. After a while, he began to fall for her for a whole new reason.

Like the bastard he was, he loved two women. Worse, he knew _which_ one he'd always choose above the other. Kagome knew it, too. All he was capable of doing was making her sad, yet still she stayed—with him. Selfishly, he kept all other males from taking her attention from him, knowing how she felt towards him.

Before he could get too caught up in the love triangle he found himself in, Kagome squeezed his hand, bringing his attention instantly from the edge of the bed to her face.

She spoke before he could utter a word. "Please, hold me."

Hesitating, he worried about getting caught in bed with her and being thrown out, but when a silent tear fell from her eye, soaking into the pillow, Inuyasha acted. The bed was too small and the IV made it more awkward, and they were careful of her injury, but they finally found a suitable position on their sides, facing each other. Kagome's forehead was against his chest, her tiny hands between them, and his arm was around her waist. The other he had under the pillow.

He held her as she cuddled close. A warmth filled his chest, the love he felt bittersweet.

A tear fell from his eye, a weakness no one was witness to. His hold around Kagome tightened as he buried his nose in her hair. "I'm sorry, Kagome."

 _For everything._

"I'm so sorry."

Kagome's breath hitched on a quiet sob. "So am I."


End file.
